API 570 Piping Inspection Support in British Columbia

Short answer: British Columbia is one of the few Canadian jurisdictions that adopts API 570 by name. The Schedule to the Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation, administered by Technical Safety BC, adopts API 570 (Edition 5), API 510, the National Board Inspection Code and CSA B51:24. Pressure piping designs above NPS 3 are registered, and the owner's API 570 inspector evaluates and signs in-service inspections. Atlantis performs the NDE behind that inspection: UT thickness at condition monitoring locations (CMLs), corrosion mapping, profile radiography, guided-wave screening and weld examination. Atlantis performs the NDE; your API 570 Authorized Inspector remains inspector of record and signs the inspection report.

British Columbia's process piping is spread across very different environments. On the coast, a refinery, pipeline terminals, chemical plants, LNG storage and pulp mills sit in salt air and heavy rain. In the north-east, Montney gas plants and compressor stations run sour and sweet gas, NGL and produced-water piping through deep winters. On the north coast, LNG Canada at Kitimat and the propane export terminal at Prince Rupert bring cryogenic and refrigerated piping, and an aluminium smelter adds its own utility systems. Inland, the Prince George refinery, kraft pulp mills and mines complete the picture. Each of these sits under a different mix of Technical Safety BC, the BC Energy Regulator and the Canada Energy Regulator. This page explains where the piping is, what BC's adoption of API 570 means in practice, where pipeline jurisdiction begins, which methods suit BC damage mechanisms, and exactly what Atlantis does and does not do. To start, request an NDE scope for your inspector's plan.

Where API 570 piping is in British Columbia

Direct answer: BC's API 570 piping is concentrated at the Burnaby refinery and Burrard Inlet terminals, at chemical and LNG storage sites in Metro Vancouver and Delta, at kraft pulp mills along the coast and in the interior, at the Prince George refinery, at north-east BC gas plants around Fort St. John, Taylor and Fort Nelson, and at north-coast export and smelting sites in Kitimat and Prince Rupert.

Burnaby, Burrard Inlet and the Lower Mainland

The Burnaby refinery on Burrard Inlet, owned by Sunoco since it completed its acquisition of Parkland in October 2025, runs crude, cracking, reforming and treating units connected by unit and interconnecting piping on a tight, hillside site close to homes. Next door, the Trans Mountain Burnaby Terminal and the Westridge Marine Terminal handle crude transfers, and chemical and bulk-liquid terminals line North Vancouver and Port Moody. In Delta, FortisBC's Tilbury site liquefies and stores natural gas, bringing cryogenic stainless piping into the Lower Mainland mix. Marine air, chlorides and constant rain make external corrosion, CUI and coating condition central to every external inspection here, and many lines run in congested racks where access and radiography exclusion zones are hard to arrange.

North-east BC: Montney and Horn River gas

Around Fort St. John, Taylor, Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson, gas processing plants, compressor stations and batteries handle raw gas, condensate, NGL, methanol and produced water. Inlet separation, amine sweetening where sour gas is present, dehydration and refrigeration units bring wet H2S damage, amine cracking, CO2 corrosion, erosion at chokes and elbows, and hydrate and freeze risk into the inspection plan. Plant piping at these sites is pressure piping, while gathering lines and pipelines that enter and leave the plant are licensed by the BC Energy Regulator, so the boundary between the two regimes is drawn at every inlet and outlet.

Kitimat, Prince Rupert and the north coast

LNG Canada at Kitimat, which began exporting in 2025, runs gas treating, liquefaction and loading systems with cryogenic stainless and low-temperature carbon steel piping, plus utilities, fuel gas and flare systems. Rio Tinto's aluminium smelter at Kitimat runs compressed air, fuel and utility piping. At Prince Rupert, propane and butane export terminals rely on refrigerated and pressurised storage with the associated transfer piping. On cold-service piping, CUI and damaged vapour barriers are the leading concerns; on the smelter and terminal sites, marine atmosphere does the damage.

Pulp mills, the interior refinery and mines

BC's kraft pulp mills, on the coast at places such as Crofton, Harmac and Port Mellon on Howe Sound and inland at Prince George, Quesnel, Kamloops and Castlegar, run white and black liquor, caustic, chlorine dioxide, steam and condensate piping, where caustic cracking, chloride stress corrosion cracking of stainless steels and erosion-corrosion are well known. The Prince George refinery processes crude from north-east BC and Alberta. Copper and gold mines in the interior and the north run slurry, reagent, fuel and compressed air systems. Woodfibre LNG near Squamish, under construction, will add another coastal LNG site.

What API 570 requires, in plain terms

Direct answer: API 570 sets the in-service inspection, repair, alteration and rerating rules for metallic process piping. Owners divide piping into circuits, assign service classes by leak consequence, locate CMLs where damage is expected, and schedule thickness and external inspections by class and remaining life, or under a qualifying risk-based programme. In BC the code is adopted in the regulation itself.

The fifth edition was published in February 2024 alongside API RP 574, with an addendum issued since, and it is the edition BC's Schedule refers to as Revision/Edition 5. API's summary of the changes highlights a defined Inspection Supervisor role, stronger pressure-relieving device requirements and rules on deferring inspection repair recommendations. Copies found online are usually older editions; work from a licensed current copy. In our words:

• Circuits and CMLs. Piping with similar design, material and service is grouped into circuits, with CMLs placed where the inspector expects damage, including elbows, tees, reducers, injection points and deadlegs.
• Service classes. Class 1 covers services where a leak could quickly become an emergency, such as flashing light hydrocarbons, propane and butane and, in many programmes, sour gas; Class 2 most other unit piping; Class 3 flammables that do not significantly vaporise and many offsite lines; recent editions add Class 4 for low-consequence services.
• Intervals. Thickness measurement at the shorter of half the remaining life or the class maximum. US OSHA guidance citing API 570 gives five years for Class 1 and ten years for Classes 2 and 3. Check the current edition for the full table and for injection points.
• CUI and external inspection. Insulated piping operating in the CUI temperature range, including cold-service piping that cycles through it, gets targeted insulation removal or NDE such as profile RT.
• Corrosion rates. Long-term and short-term rates come from CML history; the inspector normally governs on the more conservative rate.
• Examiners. Recent editions identify applications where UT shear-wave examiners must have passed a performance demonstration; the inspector's plan should say where.

Atlantis can calculate corrosion rates and remaining life from its thickness data for the inspector's review; the interval decision belongs to the inspector and the owner. Background: API 570 code requirements, what triggers an internal piping inspection and our API 570 programme overview.

Technical Safety BC and the regulation that adopts API 570

Direct answer: The Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation under the Safety Standards Act applies to every pressure piping system not exempted, requires piping designs above NPS 3 to be registered with a provincial safety manager, and, in its Schedule as amended in 2024, adopts API 510, API 570 (Edition 5), the NBIC and CSA B51:24.

Technical Safety BC administers the regulation. In our own words, the provisions that matter most to a piping NDE scope are these; confirm the current text with Technical Safety BC before relying on any of them:

• Scope. The regulation applies to boilers, pressure vessels, pressure piping systems, fittings, plants and refrigeration equipment, with listed exclusions, including gas-utility distribution mains and service pipes, low-pressure systems relieving at 103 kPa or less, domestic water and medical gas piping.
• Design registration. Designs of boilers, pressure vessels, fittings and pressure piping must be registered with a provincial safety manager; pressure piping of NPS 3 or less is exempt from registration. A Technical Safety BC directive confirms that piping spools and skid-package piping that are not boiler external piping follow the same registration and inspection requirements, built to the appropriate ASME B31 code.
• Regulated work. Regulated work is done to the registered design and, where a safety officer requires, is inspected. Pressure welding and brazing follow CSA B51 with registered procedures, by certified pressure welders working for licensed contractors.
• Data and repair reports. Contractors submit data reports as defined in CSA B51 or the NBIC for installations, repairs and alterations, and a repair or alteration report where applicable.
• Owner duties at inspection. When preparing equipment for a safety officer's inspection, the owner or chief engineer must, among other things, remove jackets and coverings on request and perform the nondestructive tests the safety officer requires.
• Adopted codes. The Schedule adopts NBIC 2023, API STD 530, API 510 (Eleventh Edition), API 570 (Edition 5), CSA B51:24, CSA B52:23 and NFPA 85.

That adoption is the distinctive BC point: API 570 is not only an owner's choice here but part of the regulatory framework for in-service piping, so the quality of the owner's CML data and the inspector's records matters to the regulator as well as the plant. Owners with large equipment populations should ask Technical Safety BC how their in-service programme and inspection records are expected to be organised. See our Technical Safety BC overview, CSA B51 and CRN registration pages.

Construction NDE on new and repaired welds follows ASME B31.3 or the applicable B31 code and the contractor's quality programme, and our reports are written so they can sit in that record. Power plants and steam systems add the regulation's power engineer duties, including shift inspections of pressure piping by the engineer in charge, which are separate from the API 570 inspection programme.

BC Energy Regulator, the CER and the pipeline boundary

Direct answer: Oil and gas pipelines and LNG facilities in BC are regulated by the BC Energy Regulator under the Energy Resource Activities Act and its Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Facility Regulation, which requires pipelines to be operated and maintained to CSA Z662. Interprovincial lines such as Trans Mountain and Enbridge's Westcoast system are regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator.

The BC Energy Regulator, formerly the Oil and Gas Commission, licenses pipelines, gas plants and LNG facilities. Its pipeline definition includes associated installations and facilities but excludes gas-utility distribution piping at less than 700 kPa and wellheads. Inside a BCER-permitted gas plant or LNG facility, boilers, pressure vessels and pressure piping still need Technical Safety BC's design registration and regulated-work rules, so a plant can carry both a BCER permit and Technical Safety BC registrations; confirm for your facility which regulator governs each system and how the boundary is drawn on your drawings.

For NDE scoping we document which regime each examined line falls under, exactly as the owner's drawings define it. Pipeline-side work, including dig-site examinations and Z662 integrity digs, is covered on our pipeline inspection page and in our CSA Z662 overview.

NDE methods for API 570 work in British Columbia

Direct answer: UT thickness at CMLs carries the programme; corrosion mapping covers erosion and localised loss; profile RT and CUI screening cover insulated and cold-service lines; guided-wave screening covers long rack and sleeper runs; PAUT, TOFD, MT and PT cover welds in caustic, amine and sour services; and visual examination covers marine-atmosphere damage.

Industrial radiography in Canada is licensed federally by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and exposure device operators must hold CNSC certification. RT on BC sites is performed only by crews holding the required licence and certifications, and PAUT is often preferred on the Burnaby hillside, at terminals and at LNG sites where exclusion zones would stop other work. Method choice follows the damage mechanisms in each circuit; see the API 571 damage mechanisms guide, our sour cracking guide and the API RP 583 CUI guide.

Examiner certification in British Columbia

Direct answer: We found no BC regulation naming a single NDE certification scheme for in-service piping examinations, so the owner's specification, the inspector's plan and, where one is involved, the safety officer decide. BC owners commonly accept ASNT SNT-TC-1A, CAN/CGSB-48.9712 (ISO 9712) or either. Atlantis technicians are certified to an ASNT SNT-TC-1A written practice under ASNT Level III oversight.

CAN/CGSB-48.9712, aligned with ISO 9712, is Canada's national NDT personnel scheme, administered by Natural Resources Canada's NDT Certification Body. The Canadian General Standards Board, which published the standard, closed on 1 April 2026; NRCan's certification body continues and CAN/CGSB-48.9712 remains valid, according to NRCan and CWB Group notices. Confirm the current certification body when you write a specification. See CAN/CGSB-48.9712 and the NRCan NDT Certification Body.

The honest position: Atlantis is an ASNT-based NDE contractor. Every proposal states the certification basis method by method. If your specification is CGSB-only, or the inspector's plan calls for a performance-demonstrated shear-wave examiner, we say so at scoping, not after a crew is on site. Atlantis does not provide CGSB or ISO 9712 training or certification; our training is ASNT SNT-TC-1A only, through NDT training in British Columbia and across Canada.

How Atlantis supports your inspector

Direct answer: We perform the NDE in the inspector's plan, check it on site, flag anything unexpected the same day and deliver a digital report the inspector can accept and file. We are not an Authorized Inspection Agency and we do not supply API-certified inspectors. We are not Technical Safety BC safety officers and we do not register designs or sign data reports.

• Scope from the plan. Circuits, isometrics, CMLs, damage mechanisms, methods and coverage come from the API 570 inspector's plan.
• Qualification check. We confirm certification requirements, and any performance-demonstration requirement, before booking a crew.
• Procedures. An ASNT NDT Level III prepares or reviews each procedure to ASME Section V, including wet-surface preparation, cold-weather and high-temperature UT and temperature correction.
• Fieldwork. Crews are mobilised to your site with the schedule agreed during scoping; ferry, camp or fly-in logistics are planned for island and remote sites.
• Data QA and flagging. Readings are compared with history on site; questionable readings go to the inspector immediately.
• Report. CML readings, C-scans, radiographs, guided-wave results with follow-up, calibration records and examiner certifications in our digital reporting platform, ready for the owner's file and any safety officer review.
• Acceptance. The inspector reviews and accepts the results, decides on repairs and sets next dates.

RBI and fitness-for-service assessments are performed by the owner's engineers or specialists using our data; Atlantis does not offer them. See API 570 piping NDE support and piping circuit and CML inspection.

Planning around rain, wildfire, floods and turnarounds

Direct answer: On the coast, external inspection, insulation removal and coating repair are easier in the drier months; on-stream UT runs year-round. In the north-east, deep winter limits stripping and favours on-stream work under hoarding. Interior and northern work needs wildfire-season contingency, and mobilisation from the coast needs road-closure contingency in autumn storms.

• Coastal rain. Wet surfaces complicate UT coupling, MT and PT, and coating repair after insulation removal. Temporary shelters and dry-season scheduling help, and reinsulation must be planned with the stripping so CUI is not created by the inspection.
• Atmospheric rivers. The November 2021 floods cut highways between the coast and the interior and shut the Trans Mountain pipeline for weeks. Plans for interior sites keep alternative routes and an agreed decision point.
• Wildfire season. Smoke, evacuation orders and closures can affect Prince George, Kamloops and the north-east from late spring to late summer.
• North-east winters. Around Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, metal temperatures far below freezing require cold-weather UT procedures and heated hoarding; spring breakup can make lease roads harder to use than frozen winter roads.
• Turnarounds and LNG campaigns. The refineries, gas plants and LNG sites plan outages well ahead, and the NDE crew should start as soon as access is released so the inspector's evaluation is ready before repair crews mobilise.

Confined-space entry and lock-out follow WorkSafeBC's Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and site permits. Book a scoping call to fit the NDE into your season.

API 570 piping inspection support across British Columbia

Direct answer: Atlantis supports API 570 piping programmes across BC, with crews mobilised to your site on a schedule agreed during scoping, covering Burnaby, Vancouver, Delta and the Fraser River, Vancouver Island, Squamish, Kamloops and the interior, Prince George, north-east BC and the north coast.

• Burnaby, Vancouver, Port Moody and North Vancouver: refinery, terminal and chemical piping. Related pages: ultrasonic testing in Vancouver, radiographic testing in Vancouver, NDT consulting in Vancouver, NDT training in Vancouver and digital twins in Vancouver.
• Delta, Richmond and the Fraser River: LNG storage, airport fuel and terminal piping.
• Vancouver Island and Howe Sound: kraft pulp mill liquor, caustic and steam piping and coastal fuel terminals.
• Kamloops and the interior: pulp mill, mine and pipeline terminal piping; for technician practice see practical NDT in Kamloops.
• Prince George and Quesnel: refinery and pulp mill piping; see practical NDT in Prince George.
• Fort St. John, Taylor, Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson: gas plant, compressor and NGL piping at BCER-permitted facilities.
• Kitimat and Prince Rupert: LNG, smelter and export-terminal piping.

The companion hubs cover the other equipment on the same sites: API 510 pressure vessel inspection in British Columbia and API 653 tank inspection in British Columbia. For Level III procedure and written-practice support see NDT consulting in British Columbia and NDT consulting across Canada; for inspection data and certification tracking, NDT ERP in British Columbia; for technician development, practical NDT in British Columbia and ASNT Level III training.

Keeping piping history usable

Direct answer: With API 570 adopted in the regulation, the CML history is evidence for the regulator as well as the plant. We keep your circuit and CML numbering, record the reading pattern, instrument and calibration at each CML, and deliver data that loads into your inspection database without renumbering.

Where a reading pattern or location differs from history, we flag it rather than let it distort a corrosion rate. New CMLs are photographed and described, insulation plugs removed for readings are recorded so they can be resealed against the rain, and examiner certification records travel with the data. Results can be shown on a digital twin of the unit, and certificates, calibrations and work orders can be tracked in our inspection-management ERP. Layouts are on NDT report templates; construction-code background is in ASME B31.3 explained and API 510 vs API 570.

What to send us for a British Columbia quote

Direct answer: Send the circuit list and isometrics, the last inspection report, the inspector's plan, your examiner certification requirements, insulation and access details and your season window. We reply with questions or a scope, and a quote within 24 hours of having what we need.

1. Circuit list with service class, material, size, schedule, temperature, pressure and design registration numbers where relevant.
2. Isometrics with CMLs, injection points, deadlegs, small-bore connections and insulated, traced or cold-service sections marked.
3. The last inspection report and thickness history, or confirmation that this is a baseline.
4. The inspector's plan and damage mechanisms, including sour, amine, caustic, chloride and CUI-susceptible services.
5. Examiner certification requirements and any performance-demonstration requirement.
6. Where the owner's drawings place BCER or CER pipeline boundaries for lines near plant inlets, outlets and terminals.
7. Access, weather protection, ferry, camp or fly-in logistics, permits and dates.

Send us your circuit list and we will scope the NDE against your inspector's plan.

Frequently asked questions: API 570 in British Columbia

Does British Columbia adopt API 570?

Yes. The Schedule to the Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation, as amended in 2024, adopts API 570 (Edition 5), API 510, the NBIC 2023 and CSA B51:24. Confirm the current Schedule and how it applies to your plant with Technical Safety BC.

Does process piping need design registration in BC?

Pressure piping designs must be registered with a provincial safety manager unless the piping is NPS 3 or less or in a heating plant. Technical Safety BC has confirmed that skid-package piping and spools that are not boiler external piping follow the same requirements.

Who signs API 570 piping inspections in BC?

The owner's API 570 inspector evaluates and signs. Atlantis performs the NDE; your API 570 Authorized Inspector remains inspector of record and signs the inspection report.

Is Atlantis an Authorized Inspector or a Technical Safety BC safety officer?

No. We are not an Authorized Inspection Agency, we do not supply API-certified inspectors, and we are not safety officers. We perform and document the NDE that your inspector, and any safety officer reviewing the records, relies on.

Can a safety officer ask for NDE on our piping?

Yes. When preparing equipment for a safety officer's inspection, the owner or chief engineer must perform the nondestructive tests the safety officer requires and remove coverings on request. Atlantis can carry out that NDE and report it to your inspector and the safety officer.

Who regulates gas plant and pipeline piping in north-east BC?

The BC Energy Regulator licenses pipelines, gas plants and LNG facilities and requires pipelines to meet CSA Z662. Pressure piping inside those facilities also falls under Technical Safety BC's registration and regulated-work rules. Interprovincial lines are regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator.

Are your technicians CGSB certified?

No. Atlantis technicians are certified to an ASNT SNT-TC-1A written practice under ASNT Level III oversight. The owner's specification decides which scheme is acceptable, and we confirm it during scoping. CAN/CGSB-48.9712 remains valid after the Canadian General Standards Board's closure on 1 April 2026; confirm the current certification body.

Can you inspect cold-service and LNG piping for CUI?

We can supply profile radiography, targeted UT and visual examination for the inspector's CUI programme on cold-service piping, coordinated with insulation contractors so that vapour barriers are restored. The inspector selects locations and coverage.

Who licenses radiography on BC sites?

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission licenses industrial radiography federally, and exposure device operators must hold CNSC certification. PAUT is often used where exclusion zones are impractical.

Do you provide RBI, fitness-for-service or API 570 training?

No. RBI and FFS are performed by the owner's engineers or specialists using our data. Atlantis offers ASNT SNT-TC-1A training only; for the API certification route see our API inspector career guide.

How soon can a crew reach Burnaby, Kitimat or Fort St. John?

We quote within 24 hours of receiving the scope information. Mobilisation, travel and access are agreed during scoping around your turnaround, weather and road constraints.

Next step

For CMLs coming due, CUI campaigns on coastal or cold-service piping, sour or caustic weld NDE, or turnaround support, get a quote within 24 hours. Atlantis performs the NDE; your API 570 Authorized Inspector remains inspector of record and signs the inspection report.

More Atlantis NDT services in British Columbia

• NDT training and certification in British Columbia
• Level III consulting in British Columbia
• API 653 storage tank inspection support in British Columbia
• API 510 pressure vessel inspection support in British Columbia
• NDT ERP software in British Columbia
• Practical NDT simulator in British Columbia

Part of the wider piping circuit inspection service at Atlantis NDT.