API 570 Piping Inspection Support in Quebec

Short answer: In Quebec, pressure piping forms part of a pressure installation regulated by the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) under the Building Act and the Regulation respecting pressure installations. Equipment is manufactured to CSA B51, installed to the BNQ 3650-900 installation code and repaired to the NBIC, and the owner-user has the installation periodically inspected by a person recognised by the RBQ, unless an RBQ-approved quality control programme sets the inspection programme. Within that framework, refiners and chemical plants run their piping programmes on API 570, and the owner's inspector evaluates and signs. Atlantis performs the NDE; your API 570 Authorized Inspector remains inspector of record and signs the inspection report.

Quebec's process piping follows the St. Lawrence. Montreal East has a refinery, petrochemical plants, an LNG liquefaction and storage plant and the end of the Line 9 crude pipeline. Lévis, across from Quebec City, has one of Canada's largest refineries. Varennes and Bécancour host chemical, industrial gas and new hydrogen and battery-materials plants, the Saguenay has an alumina refinery and aluminium smelters, and kraft pulp mills, metallurgical plants and power stations sit across the province. Quebec also differs from the rest of Canada in two practical ways: pressure installations are inspected periodically by recognised persons under an RBQ framework, and the normal language of work and documentation on most sites is French. This page explains where the piping is, how API 570 sits inside the RBQ regime, where pipeline jurisdiction begins, which NDE methods suit Quebec damage mechanisms, how certification and language questions are handled, and what Atlantis does. To start, request an NDE scope for your inspector's plan.

Where API 570 piping is in Quebec

Direct answer: Quebec's API 570 piping is concentrated in Montreal East and the east-end industrial zone, at the Lévis refinery, in the Varennes and Bécancour chemical parks, in the Saguenay's alumina and aluminium complex, at metallurgical plants in Sorel-Tracy, and at kraft pulp mills, gas-fired plants and food and pharmaceutical facilities across the province.

Montreal East and the east-end industrial zone

Suncor's Montreal refinery operates in Montreal East alongside petrochemical plants producing aromatics and other intermediates, chemical distributors, bulk-liquid terminals at the Port of Montreal and an LNG liquefaction and storage plant serving the gas distribution system. Enbridge's Line 9 delivers crude from Sarnia, and the Trans-Northern pipeline carries refined products west. Unit piping, interconnecting racks between neighbouring plants, and long insulated offsite runs make thickness surveys at CMLs, injection point inspection and CUI the core of the piping programme. Many lines are old and have changed service more than once, so reconstructing circuit history is often the first task.

Lévis and the Quebec City region

Valero's Jean-Gaulin refinery in Lévis, on the south shore opposite Quebec City, is one of the largest refineries in Canada by capacity. It receives crude by tanker on the St. Lawrence and moves products to Montreal by the Saint-Laurent pipeline and by vessel. Crude, conversion, hydrotreating, sulphur and utility units bring the full refinery list of damage mechanisms: sulphidation, naphthenic acid corrosion where crude slates call for it, wet H2S and ammonium bisulphide in hydroprocessing effluent and sour water, amine service, and CUI on insulated piping exposed to river weather.

Varennes, Bécancour, Trois-Rivières and Sorel-Tracy

South of Montreal, Varennes has chemical, biofuel and hydrogen production. The Bécancour waterfront industrial park, between Montreal and Quebec City, hosts chemical, industrial gas, metals and newer battery-materials and hydrogen projects, with caustic, chlorine, acid, hydrogen and solvent piping where material selection and cracking mechanisms matter as much as general wall loss. Sorel-Tracy's metallurgical complex and the Trois-Rivières area add process, acid, steam and utility piping.

Saguenay, the Côte-Nord and the pulp and paper regions

In the Saguenay, Rio Tinto's alumina refinery at Jonquière uses the Bayer process, with hot caustic liquor and slurry piping where caustic stress corrosion cracking, erosion and scaling define the inspection plan; aluminium smelters across the region run compressed air, fuel and utility systems. Kraft pulp mills in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, the Mauricie, Estrie and Abitibi run white and black liquor, chlorine dioxide, caustic, steam and condensate piping. On the Côte-Nord, pelletising plants and port facilities serving the iron-ore trade add fuel and process piping.

What API 570 requires, in plain terms

Direct answer: API 570 is the in-service inspection, repair, alteration and rerating code for metallic process piping. Owners group piping into circuits, class each by the consequence of a leak, place CMLs where damage is expected and schedule thickness and external inspections by class and remaining life, or under a qualifying risk-based programme. The inspector evaluates and accepts; examiners measure.

The current edition is the fifth, published in February 2024 alongside API RP 574, with an addendum issued since. API highlights a defined Inspection Supervisor role, stronger requirements for pressure-relieving devices and rules on deferring inspection repair recommendations. Copies found online are usually older editions, and API codes are published in English; French working translations used on site should be checked against a licensed current copy. In our own words:

• Roles. The owner runs the programme; the API 570 inspector plans, evaluates and accepts; examiners record measurements but do not evaluate fitness; repairers work to the inspector's authorisation; engineers handle alterations and rerates.
• Service classes. Class 1 for services where a leak could quickly become an emergency, such as flashing light hydrocarbons and, in many programmes, sour gas, hydrogen fluoride and chlorine; Class 2 for most unit piping; Class 3 for 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; in Quebec the RBQ framework and the owner's programme govern how intervals are set and documented.
• Special locations. Injection and mix points, deadlegs, small-bore connections, CUI-range insulated piping and soil-to-air interfaces get extra CMLs and specific methods.
• Corrosion rates. Long-term and short-term rates come from CML history, and the inspector normally governs on the more conservative.
• Examiners. Recent editions identify applications where UT shear-wave examiners must have passed a performance demonstration.

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, API 510 vs API 570 and our API 570 programme overview.

RBQ pressure installations: how piping is regulated

Direct answer: The Regulation respecting pressure installations, made under the Building Act, replaced Quebec's former Regulation respecting pressure vessels. It requires pressure equipment to be manufactured to CSA B51, installed to BNQ 3650-900, repaired and altered to NBIC Part 3, approved by the RBQ before commissioning in most cases, and periodically inspected by a recognised person, with piping and its supports part of the installation inspected.

The summary below is based on the published regulation text and RBQ material we could access; the regulation has been amended since it was first made, so confirm the current wording and any thresholds with the RBQ.

Manufacturing, installation and repair

• Codes. Pressure equipment is manufactured to CSA B51, the Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Pressure Piping Code, and installed to BNQ 3650-900, the Quebec installation code for boilers, pressure appliances and pressure piping. Repairs and alterations follow the technical requirements of the NBIC, Part 3, taking into account the codes to which the equipment was originally designed and built. Process piping is designed and built to ASME B31.3 within that framework.
• Approval before service. Pressure installations must be approved by the RBQ before they are put into service, with exceptions, for example for some piping and accessory work by a permit holder or work covered by an approved quality control programme.
• Permits and quality control programmes. Installers, repairers and users carrying out regulated work hold RBQ permits conditional on an approved quality control programme.
• Exclusions. Piping conveying gas or liquid fuel for combustion that falls under the Construction Code's gas or petroleum equipment chapters is handled under those chapters instead.

Periodic inspection and the owner-user

• Recognised persons. The owner-user of a pressure installation has it inspected by a person or body recognised by the RBQ. Recognition is tied to ASME or National Board accreditation for authorised inspection, or to an RBQ-approved quality control programme, with independence and insurance conditions.
• What is inspected. An external or internal inspection covers the condition of surfaces, insulation or coating, openings, fittings, piping, accessories and piping supports, and the operation of control and overpressure protection devices. After the inspection, the owner-user obtains a certificate of conformity from the recognised person.
• Inspection programmes. Fixed frequencies apply by equipment type unless an RBQ-approved quality control programme contains an inspection programme with mechanisms to monitor equipment condition, in particular corrosion rate. NDT methods such as ultrasound or radiography may replace visual internal inspection in some cases.
• Register. The owner keeps a register on site with maintenance, repair and alteration history and the results of verifications and inspections, available to the RBQ.

For a refinery or chemical plant, the practical result is that the API 570 programme, its circuits, CMLs and corrosion rates, becomes the evidence behind the recognised person's certificate of conformity or the owner's approved inspection programme. The NDE data has to be traceable enough to stand up in both places. See our RBQ compliance overview, CSA B51 and CRN registration pages.

Pipelines, petroleum equipment and the plant fence

Direct answer: Interprovincial pipelines in Quebec, such as Enbridge's Line 9, the Trans-Northern products line and the Trans Québec & Maritimes gas line, are regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator to CSA Z662. Intra-provincial petroleum pipelines fall under the RBQ's petroleum equipment rules, and gas distribution sits with the RBQ's gas rules and the Régie de l'énergie. Plant piping inside the fence is part of the pressure installation.

The RBQ treats intra-provincial petroleum pipelines as high-risk petroleum equipment under Chapter VIII of the Construction Code and Chapter VI of the Safety Code, so lines such as the Saint-Laurent products pipeline from Lévis toward Montreal sit in that regime rather than under the pressure-installation rules. The Régie de l'énergie oversees natural gas distribution in the province. Which authority governs a specific gas line can depend on its function and pressure, so confirm it for your system. Federally regulated lines follow the CER's Onshore Pipeline Regulations with CSA Z662.

For NDE scoping, we record which regime each examined line falls under exactly as the owner's drawings define it, from the isolating flange at the plant boundary to the terminal manifold. Pipeline-side work is covered on our pipeline inspection page and our CSA Z662 overview.

NDE methods for API 570 work in Quebec

Direct answer: UT thickness at CMLs carries the programme; corrosion mapping covers injection points and erosion; profile RT and CUI screening cover insulated lines; guided-wave screening covers long racks; PAUT, TOFD, MT and PT cover welds in caustic, amine, sour and chloride services; and visual examination supports both API 570 external inspections and RBQ periodic inspections.

Industrial radiography is licensed federally by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and exposure device operators must hold CNSC certification. RT on Quebec sites is performed only by crews holding the required licence and certifications, and PAUT is often preferred in congested Montreal East units and near port operations. Method choice follows the damage mechanisms in each circuit; see the API 571 damage mechanisms guide, our sour cracking guide, the API RP 583 CUI guide and our CNSC overview.

Examiner certification and French-language documentation

Direct answer: We found no Quebec rule naming a single NDE certification scheme for in-service piping examinations, so the owner's specification, quality control programme and inspector decide. CAN/CGSB-48.9712 (ISO 9712) is widely specified in Quebec, and some owners accept ASNT SNT-TC-1A, especially on US-code or US-parent projects. 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 it, 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 update 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 names the certification basis method by method. Where a Quebec specification requires CGSB certification only, or the plan calls for a performance-demonstrated shear-wave examiner, we say so at scoping. Atlantis does not provide CGSB or ISO 9712 training or certification; our training is ASNT SNT-TC-1A only, through NDT training in Quebec and across Canada.

Language. French is the normal language of work and documentation at most Quebec sites, under the Charter of the French Language and site practice. Whether your procedures, field records, CML labels and reports must be in French, in English or bilingual, and what that means for crew composition and for the inspector's and recognised person's files, is discussed during scoping, before any proposal is final.

How Atlantis supports your inspector

Direct answer: We perform the NDE in the inspector's plan, flag anything unexpected the same day and deliver a digital report your inspector can accept and your recognised person can draw on. We are not an Authorized Inspection Agency and we do not supply API-certified inspectors. We are not an RBQ-recognised person and we do not issue certificates of conformity.

• Scope from the plan. Circuits, isometrics, CMLs, damage mechanisms, methods and coverage come from the API 570 inspector's plan or the approved inspection programme.
• Certification and language check. We confirm the examiner certifications your specification requires and the documentation language before booking a crew.
• Procedures. An ASNT NDT Level III prepares or reviews each procedure to ASME Section V, including cold-weather and high-temperature UT and temperature correction.
• Fieldwork. Crews are mobilised to your site and the schedule is agreed during scoping; confined-space entry and lock-out follow CNESST requirements and site permits.
• Data QA and flagging. Readings are compared with history on site, and questionable readings go to the inspector immediately.
• Report. CML readings, C-scans, radiographs, guided-wave results with follow-up, calibration and examiner certification records in our digital reporting platform, structured so the results can be entered in the installation register.
• Acceptance. The inspector reviews and accepts 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 winter, the construction holiday and turnarounds

Direct answer: On-stream UT, mapping and profile RT run year-round with cold-weather procedures; insulation removal, CUI campaigns and turnaround NDE are usually planned from late spring to autumn, around refinery turnarounds, the spring thaw and the construction industry's summer holiday.

• Winter. Cold snaps of minus twenty-five and below in Montreal and Quebec City, and colder in the Saguenay and on the Côte-Nord, affect couplant, batteries, readings and technician safety. Freezing rain makes racks and platforms hazardous. Heated enclosures and temperature-corrected readings are standard.
• The spring thaw. Seasonal load restrictions limit heavy vehicles on many roads during the thaw, affecting scaffolding, cranes and repair logistics.
• The construction holiday. Much of Quebec's construction industry stops for two weeks in late July. Repairs performed by construction trades are affected, so owners schedule NDE so that results and the inspector's evaluation are ready well before or after that window.
• Turnarounds. The Lévis and Montreal refineries and the larger chemical and alumina plants plan outages years ahead; on-stream UT before the outage keeps repair spools, procedures and RBQ-related paperwork ready.
• Remote sites. Côte-Nord and northern sites are planned around air and road access and site accommodation.

Book a scoping call to fit the NDE into your outage or on-stream plan.

API 570 piping inspection support across Quebec

Direct answer: Atlantis supports API 570 piping programmes across Quebec, with crews mobilised to your site on a schedule agreed during scoping, covering Montreal and Montreal East, Varennes and the South Shore, Lévis and Quebec City, Bécancour and Trois-Rivières, Sorel-Tracy, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, the Côte-Nord, Estrie and Abitibi.

• Montreal and Montreal East: refinery, petrochemical, LNG and port terminal piping. Related pages: NDT training in Montreal, digital twins in Montreal, NDT ERP in Montreal and practical NDT in Montreal.
• Lévis and Quebec City: refinery unit and offsite piping and port transfer lines; for technician development see practical NDT in Quebec City.
• Varennes and Bécancour: chemical, industrial gas, hydrogen and battery-materials piping.
• Sorel-Tracy and Trois-Rivières: metallurgical, pulp and port piping.
• Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean: alumina refinery caustic and slurry piping, smelter utilities and kraft mill liquor piping.
• Côte-Nord, Estrie and Abitibi: pelletising, pulp and paper and mine-site process piping.

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

Keeping piping history usable

Direct answer: In Quebec the same CML data has to satisfy the API 570 inspector, the recognised person or approved inspection programme, and the installation register. 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.

Where a reading pattern or location differs from history, we flag it rather than let it produce a misleading rate. New CMLs are photographed and described in the agreed documentation language, 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.

What to send us for a Quebec quote

Direct answer: Send the circuit list and isometrics, the last inspection report and certificate of conformity, the inspector's plan or approved inspection programme, certification and language requirements, access details and your outage 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 RBQ registration details where relevant.
2. Isometrics with CMLs, injection points, deadlegs, small-bore connections and insulated or traced sections marked.
3. The last inspection report, thickness history and certificate of conformity, or confirmation that this is a baseline.
4. The inspector's plan or approved inspection programme and damage mechanisms, including caustic, amine, sour, chloride and CUI-susceptible services.
5. Examiner certification requirements and the required documentation language.
6. Where the owner's drawings place pipeline, petroleum equipment and plant-piping boundaries for the lines in scope.
7. Access, heated enclosures, permits, orientation and dates, including construction-holiday constraints.

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

Frequently asked questions: API 570 in Quebec

Is process piping regulated by the RBQ?

Yes. Pressure piping is part of a pressure installation under the Regulation respecting pressure installations, made under the Building Act. Equipment is built to CSA B51, installed to BNQ 3650-900 and repaired to the NBIC. Confirm exclusions, such as fuel piping under other Construction Code chapters, with the RBQ.

Does Quebec require periodic inspection of pressure installations?

Yes. The owner-user has the installation inspected by a person recognised by the RBQ, covering piping, accessories and supports, and obtains a certificate of conformity, unless an RBQ-approved quality control programme sets the inspection programme. Confirm frequencies with the RBQ.

Does Quebec law require API 570?

We found no Quebec regulation naming API 570 for in-service piping. Refiners and chemical plants use it as their piping code, and their API 570 data supports the recognised person's inspection or the owner's approved inspection programme.

Who signs API 570 piping inspections in Quebec?

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

Is Atlantis an Authorized Inspector or RBQ recognised person?

No to both. We are not an Authorized Inspection Agency, we do not supply API-certified inspectors, and we do not issue certificates of conformity. We perform and document the NDE that your inspector and recognised person rely on.

Can procedures and reports be in French?

The language of procedures, field records and reports is discussed during scoping, along with what your site, your inspector and the Charter of the French Language require. We confirm what we can deliver before the proposal is final.

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.

Who regulates pipelines in Quebec?

Interprovincial lines such as Line 9, Trans-Northern and Trans Québec & Maritimes are regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator. Intra-provincial petroleum pipelines fall under the RBQ's petroleum equipment rules, and gas distribution under the RBQ's gas rules and the Régie de l'énergie. Confirm the authority for your line.

Who licenses radiography on Quebec sites?

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission licenses industrial radiography federally, and exposure device operators must hold CNSC certification. PAUT is often chosen 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 Montreal East, Lévis or Jonquière?

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

Next step

For CMLs coming due, caustic or amine weld NDE, CUI follow-up 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 Quebec

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

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