Personnel Certification Records for ABSA / AB-515
ABSA / AB-515 names this requirement as "Personnel competency assessment records and copies of Alberta In-Service Inspector Certificates of Competency". The QA manager owns it, and a contracted Level III can author and sign it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: No documented verification that subcontracted NDE personnel actually hold the qualification and certification the work order specified.. ABSA requires an inspection firm performing in-service integrity assessments to hold a Quality Management System Certificate of Authorization Permit and to document its system against AB-515. The written description must address scope, organization, impartiality, confidentiality, competence, measuring and test equipment, integrity assessment procedures, plans and work plans, reporting, repairs and alterations, internal audits, and control of NDE. Authorized scope is fixed on form AB-515(a), and work outside it is prohibited until a revised AB-515(a) is accepted. Individuals who certify equipment for continued operation must personally hold an Alberta In-Service Pressure Equipment Inspector Certificate of Competency. AB-515 renamed these firms Integrity Assessment Organizations, formerly Inspection Companies.
Source: ABSA AB-515 Quality Management System Requirements for Integrity Assessment Organizations, Edition 3 Revision 0, issued 2022-09-19 (next scheduled revision 2027); ABSA AB-526 In-Service Pressure Equipment Inspector Certification Requirements, Edition 3 Revision 3, issued 2025-01-17; ABSA AB-512 Owner-User Pressure Equipment Integrity Management Requirements, Edition 4 Revision 0, issued 2025-10-14; Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation, Alta. Reg. 49/2006 as amended by AR 195/2015, ss. 11-13 and 41-44; ABSA Fee Schedule for Delegated Functions effective 2025-11-01; ABSA QMS-CAP FAQs. All verified against absa.ca and the Alberta King's Printer on 2026-08-21.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | ABSA, the pressure equipment safety authority — Quality Management System Certificate of Authorization Permit for Integrity Assessment Organizations (AB-515) | Enforced by ABSA, the pressure equipment safety authority (originally incorporated as the Alberta Boilers Safety Association; a Delegated Administrative Organization under the Boilers Delegated Administration Regulation, Alta. Reg. 32/2002, administering the Safety Codes Act) |
| Document | Personnel Certification Records | the file proving each technician is currently certified for the work they are doing |
| Owner | the QA manager | The signature an auditor traces back |
| Where it is checked | On a successful audit ABSA issues the Certificate of Authorization Permit; issuance fee $163.50. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | Work performed outside the scope listed on form AB-515(a). AB-515 prohibits undertaking activity outside the accepted scope until a revised AB-515(a) covering the new scope is accepted by ABSA. | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a personnel certification records contain under ABSA / AB-515?
It has to satisfy ABSA / AB-515 as ABSA, the pressure equipment safety authority (originally incorporated as the Alberta Boilers Safety Association; a Delegated Administrative Organization under the Boilers Delegated Administration Regulation, Alta. Reg. 32/2002, administering the Safety Codes Act) enforces it: the file proving each technician is currently certified for the work they are doing. The test is not completeness on paper but traceability — an auditor picks a finished job and works backwards to this document, so anything it claims must be demonstrable on that job.
Who signs the personnel certification records for ABSA / AB-515?
The QA manager. Because this regime accepts employer-based certification, that role can be filled by a contracted Level III rather than a staff appointment, provided they are qualified in the methods they sign for.
How does a ABSA / AB-515 auditor test this document?
By sampling. They take a completed job, find the technicians and equipment used, and trace each back through this document to the evidence behind it. A document that reads well but cannot survive that trace is the most common finding across every regime, not just this one.
How long must ABSA / AB-515 records be kept?
The normal term of a Certificate of Authorization Permit is three years. ABSA conducts surveillance audit(s) within the term and continued validity depends on an acceptable audit. Renewal requires review and updating of the manual and submission of a new application for re-certification, approximately six months before expiry. In-Service Inspector Certificates of Competency run on a separate five-year cycle: form AB-98 plus the renewal fee of $188.90 must be submitted at least 21 days before expiry, with at least 15 weeks of in-service inspection experience in the last five years, a minimum of 80 hours of technical training (of which up to 12 hours may be in-house) and a re-certification examination. Retention is set by the regime and by the client contract above it, and the longer of the two governs. Firms that set one retention period for everything and document it fare better at audit than firms tracking different periods per record type and losing track.
Does a generic template satisfy ABSA / AB-515?
No. A downloaded template describes a generic firm, and the first question an auditor asks is whether the document describes THIS firm — its methods, its equipment, its people, its actual workflow. Templates are a starting structure; the content has to be the firm's own or the trace fails immediately.
What happens if this document is missing at a ABSA / AB-515 audit?
It is a finding, and depending on the regime it can suspend the certificate rather than merely generate a corrective action. The related finding auditors record most often is: Work performed outside the scope listed on form AB-515(a). AB-515 prohibits undertaking activity outside the accepted scope until a revised AB-515(a) covering the new scope is accepted by ABSA.
Where this sits in the ABSA / AB-515 evidence pack
- Form AB-29 Application for Certificate of Authorization Permit
- Written description of the Quality Management System (the AB-515 manual)
- Form AB-515(a) Integrity Assessment Organization Authorized Scope of Activities
- Form AB-515(b) Integrity Assessment Organization QMS Written Description Checklist
- Statement of Authority and Responsibility signed by a principal company official
- Independence, impartiality and integrity policy, with conflict-of-interest clauses in employee and subcontractor contracts
- NDE procedures reviewed and signed by a Level III, plus the NDE contractor's written practice for qualifying and certifying examiners
- Personnel competency assessment records and copies of Alberta In-Service Inspector Certificates of Competency
- Calibration records for measuring and test equipment, including subcontractor-owned equipment
- Form AB-40 Repair/Alteration Report where repairs are inspected and certified
Personnel certification context
Two separate credentials apply, and only one can be outsourced. NDT technicians work under employer-based certification: AB-515 §4.14 states an NDE organization conforming to ISO 9712, SNT-TC-1A or CP-189 (ACCP/ASNT) is desired, requires NDE procedures approved and signed by a Level III, and explicitly accepts a Level III who is 'contract or employee'. An outsourced Level III can therefore own the written practice and sign procedures. The in-service inspector credential cannot be handled that way: the person who certifies pressure equipment for continued operation must personally hold an ABSA Certificate of Competency issued under AB-526.
Related: the ABSA / AB-515 overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.