CSA Z662 Audit Preparation for Inspection Companies

A CSA Z662 audit runs in 6 stages, beginning with confirm which edition governs.. CSA Group publishes the standard; it is incorporated by reference into the Canada Energy Regulator's Onshore Pipeline Regulations and adopted by provincial energy regulators including the BC Energy Regulator, the Alberta Energy Regulator and TSSA in Ontario tests the system by sampling finished work backwards to the records behind it, so preparation means reconciling.

CSA Z662:23, the ninth edition, was released on 30 June 2023 and covers pipelines from design through construction, operation, maintenance, deactivation and abandonment, with a new clause for hydrogen and hydrogen-blend systems. For an inspection service provider the operative content sits in Clause 7: mandatory non-destructive inspection extents, documented and company-approved NDI procedures, standards of acceptability, production and retention of radiographs, and ultrasonic inspection of circumferential butt welds. Personnel qualification is pinned to CAN/CGSB-48.9712 — radiographers, with radiographic image interpretation at Level 2 or 3, and ultrasonic inspectors at Level 2 or 3. Since the 2019 edition a CGSB Level 3 must review and approve non-destructive inspection procedures. What separates firms that clear an audit from firms that collect findings is not the quality of the documentation but whether it describes what actually happens. The finding recorded most often is: Non-destructive inspection procedure approved by an ASNT Level III rather than by a CGSB Level 3

Source: Verified August 2026 against: CSA Z662:23, ninth edition, released 30 June 2023, per CSA Group and ANSI Webstore listings, which record it as superseding the 2019, 2015, 2011, 2007, 2003, 1999, 1996 and 1994 editions; Canada Energy Regulator Information Advisory IA 2023-001, confirming the 30 June 2023 in-force date and incorporation by reference through section 4 and paragraph 4(1)(d) of the Onshore Pipeline Regulations; the CSA Z662:19 table of contents, confirming clause numbering for 7.10, 7.11, 7.14 (including 7.14.8 Radiographers and 7.14.9) and 7.15 (including 7.15.6 Qualification of ultrasonic inspectors); and the verbatim text of Clauses 7.10.2, 7.10.3, 7.10.4, 7.14.8 and 7.15.6 read from a CSA Z662-11 excerpt filed as exhibit 76 in South Dakota PUC docket HP14-001. Clause numbering was unchanged between those editions, but inspection percentages and ultrasonic reference levels should be confirmed against the edition in force. The requirement for a CGSB Level 3 to review and approve non-destructive inspection procedures is reported in the Z662:19 and Z662:23 change summaries published by standards distributors; it was not read from the clause text and should be confirmed against a purchased copy before it is relied on contractually.

How long does CSA Z662 audit preparation take?

Document work — the written practice, procedures and quality manual — takes weeks. What cannot be compressed is documented experience and records history: on-the-job hours accrue in real time, and calibration and certification history cannot be back-filled. Firms that start when the audit is scheduled rather than announced clear it without findings.

What does CSA Group publishes the standard; it is incorporated by reference into the Canada Energy Regulator's Onshore Pipeline Regulations and adopted by provincial energy regulators including the BC Energy Regulator, the Alberta Energy Regulator and TSSA in Ontario look at first?

Records, not manuals. A manual states intent; records show practice. The usual opening move is to take a completed job and trace it back to the technician's certification, the instrument's calibration, the approved procedure and the report — and see whether all four reconcile.

What are the most common CSA Z662 findings?

Non-destructive inspection procedure approved by an ASNT Level III rather than by a CGSB Level 3, Radiographic image interpretation performed by a Level 1 where Clause 7.14.8.1 requires Level 2 or 3, Visual inspection procedure silent on maximum viewing distance and angle, lighting conditions or evaluation tools, all of which Clause 7.10.2.1 requires it to address, Visual inspection reports missing the signature of the qualified visual inspector required by Clause 7.10.2.3. Almost all of them are evidence problems rather than capability problems: the work was done correctly and the proof was not kept, or was kept somewhere the firm could not retrieve during the audit.

Can a consultant attend the CSA Z662 audit?

Yes, and it changes the outcome. Someone who has sat through the same audit at other firms answers in the auditor's own terms, produces the right record without a search, and stops a clarification turning into a finding. The firm still owns every answer — the consultant does not speak for it.

What happens after a CSA Z662 finding?

A corrective action with a deadline, and evidence of closure at the next audit. Repeat findings are treated far more seriously than first ones, because they show the corrective-action system itself is not working.

Does CSA Z662 require a pre-audit or gap assessment?

Not as a requirement, but the arithmetic favours it: a gap assessment finds the same evidence problems the auditor would, without the finding attached, and while there is still time to fix them. Firms entering their first CSA Z662 audit blind typically collect findings that a sampling exercise would have caught.

Related: the CSA Z662 overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.