Written Practice for NRCan NDTCB
NRCan NDTCB names this requirement as "Electronic Written Examination Authorization (EWEA) and examination admittance and registration forms". The employer's Level III owns it, alongside the certification scheme rather than replacing it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: No employer-issued written authorisation to operate for the method the technician is performing. NRCan NDTCB is the federal body that issues Canadian NDT certificates to CAN/CGSB-48.9712. Its formal name is the Natural Resources Canada National Non-Destructive Testing Certification Body; practitioners still say "CGSB certification", but CGSB only publishes the standard, and since November 2024 CWB Group has been a second certification body issuing to it. For an inspection service provider this is the gate to regulated Canadian work: technicians must hold a current certificate in the correct method, level and sector before deployment. The firm keeps the certificates, vision records and written authorisation to operate on file and produces them for clients and regulators. Employers, supervisors and a CGSB-certified Level 2 or 3 sponsor attest experience on the application. Certification is personal — it leaves with the technician.
Source: Verified August 2026 against NRCan NDTCB pages: "National Non-Destructive Testing Certification Body"; "Apply for NDT Certification"; "Details about the Initial NDT Certification Process"; "Renewing Your NDT Certification"; "Fees for NDT Certification and Examination" (page last modified 17 July 2026); "NDT Certification Body: FAQs" (confirming the NDTCB is the qualifying body for the CNSC exposure device operator written examination); "Standards Framework for the NDT Certification Program"; and "Rules of Implementation for CAN/CGSB-48.9712" (effective 31 March 2024). Also NRCan NDTCB controlled document 8.2.1-083, version 02, issued 24 March 2026; IAS accreditation certificate PCB-115 to ISO/IEC 17024:2012, scope effective 2 August 2019 (current accreditor should be re-confirmed before relying on it); CWB Group "Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Personnel Certification" and "Making sense of NDT personnel certification in Canada", read 2026.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | Natural Resources Canada National Non-Destructive Testing Certification Body (NRCan NDTCB) | Enforced by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Government of Canada — NDTCB, based at 183 Longwood Road South, Hamilton, Ontario |
| Document | Written Practice | the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel |
| Owner | the employer's Level III | The signature an auditor traces back |
| Where it is checked | Certificate issued, valid for up to five years (60 months or less), expiring in the holder's birth month;. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | Technician deployed on work outside the sector or method endorsement printed on his certificate | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a written practice contain under NRCan NDTCB?
It has to satisfy NRCan NDTCB as Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Government of Canada — NDTCB, based at 183 Longwood Road South, Hamilton, Ontario enforces it: the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel. 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 written practice for NRCan NDTCB?
The employer's Level III. This regime requires central or third-party certification, so the signature works alongside the scheme rather than substituting for it.
How does a NRCan NDTCB 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 NRCan NDTCB records be kept?
Certificates are valid for up to five years (60 months or less) and expire in the holder's birth month. Renewal requires evidence of continued satisfactory work activity plus a vision test — near and distance acuity results are valid one year, colour vision and grey-scale perception five years. Applications were due one month before expiry for certificates expiring up to 15 March 2026, and four months before expiry from 15 April 2026, when a structured credit system also becomes the proof of continued competence, with one attempt permitted per method. Late renewal is possible up to twelve months after expiry with a CAD 150 additional fee. Recertification, which adds examination, applies at the alternate cycle; CWB Group, certifying to the same standard, states recertification every ten years from initial certification. Published NRCan fees (page last modified 17 July 2026, non-refundable and non-transferable): application CAD 525 for all methods and levels; written registration CAD 90 per paper at Level 1, CAD 115 at Level 2, CAD 140 at Level 3; online written examination CAD 125 per paper; practical registration CAD 110–625; practical examination fees paid to the authorized examination centre CAD 320–1,520. 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 NRCan NDTCB?
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 NRCan NDTCB 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: Technician deployed on work outside the sector or method endorsement printed on his certificate
Where this sits in the NRCan NDTCB evidence pack
- Application form for Non-destructive Testing Certification, with experience attested by employer, supervisor and referee on pages 3 and 4
- Vision Test Report Form and Vision Attestation Form
- Photograph Verification Form and Identification Verification Form
- Code of Conduct acknowledgement
- Recognized Training Organization (RTO) course completion certificates for each method and level claimed
- Electronic Written Examination Authorization (EWEA) and examination admittance and registration forms
- Two professional passport photographs, 5 cm x 7 cm, taken within the previous 12 months, plus verified government-issued ID for first-time applicants
- Renewal Application Form with evidence of continued satisfactory work activity
- Structured credit system evidence, for certifications due for renewal on or after 15 April 2026
Personnel certification context
Central, third-party certification only — there is no SNT-TC-1A style employer written practice in this scheme. An outsourced ASNT Level III cannot certify anyone in Canada and cannot sign as the certifying authority for a Canadian firm's personnel. What an outsourced Level 3 can do is hold a personal CAN/CGSB-48.9712 Level 3 in the method and sector, receive written authorisation to operate from the client firm, and on that basis write and approve NDT procedures, act as technical authority, and co-sign experience attestations as the required CGSB-certified sponsor. The distinguishing point is that the certificate must be his own, issued by NRCan NDTCB or CWB Group.
Related: the NRCan NDTCB overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.