Written Practice for TSASK
TSASK names this requirement as "Pressure Equipment Inventory Updates and written notification to the Chief Inspector of any change of designated inspector". The employer's Level III owns it, alongside the certification scheme rather than replacing it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: NDE personnel holding only employer-issued SNT-TC-1A certification, where the TSASK quality control program guide requires certification in accordance with CGSB.. Saskatchewan's Quality Management System of Inspections is voluntary but commercially decisive: it is what lets a company lengthen inspection intervals, remove start-up delays on newly installed equipment and extend PSV service intervals. Three authorization classes exist under Regulation 83(1) — Class A covering periodic inspections, repairs and alterations and acceptance inspections of new piping including boilers, Class B the same without boilers, and Class C for insurers inspecting equipment they insure. Every inspection carried out under an approved QMS must be done by a Licensed Pressure Equipment Inspector whose licence authorizes that inspection, and the holder must designate and employ one. Separately, contractors need a Certificate of Authorization built on a quality control manual.
Source: TSASK Saskatchewan Quality Management System of Inspections, document IP-2011-01-01, including the Class A/B/C authorizations under Saskatchewan Regulation 83(1); TSASK Guide for Quality Control Program Requirements, document IP-2008-07-04, revision September 2017; TSASK Quality Management Systems, Pressure Equipment Inspector licensing and Design Registration pages; The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act and The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Regulations. Verified on tsask.ca on 2026-08-21.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan — Quality Management System of Inspections and Licensed Pressure Equipment Inspector regime | Enforced by Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSASK), administering The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act and The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Regulations, with oversight from the Saskatchewan Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Board |
| 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 | Submit the Letter of Implementation, then maintain the four mandatory reporting streams: May and November inspection reports, pressure. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | NDE personnel holding only employer-issued SNT-TC-1A certification, where the TSASK quality control program guide requires certification in accordance with CGSB. | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a written practice contain under TSASK?
It has to satisfy TSASK as Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSASK), administering The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act and The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Regulations, with oversight from the Saskatchewan Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Board 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 TSASK?
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 TSASK 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 TSASK records be kept?
Renewal applications must be requested at least 120 days before the certificate expiry date. Applications submitted closer to expiration may require an interim extension application to maintain compliance while the renewal audit is under way. A separate timing rule applies at first certification: the implementation audit must be completed within six months of manual approval or a new application and payment are required. TSASK did not publish a fixed certificate term in the material reviewed, so confirm the term on the certificate itself. 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 TSASK?
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 TSASK 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: NDE personnel holding only employer-issued SNT-TC-1A certification, where the TSASK quality control program guide requires certification in accordance with CGSB.
Where this sits in the TSASK evidence pack
- Application for a Quality Program Review
- One controlled copy of the QMS manual covering design, construction, installation, operation, alteration, repairs, inspections and decommissioning information
- Quality control manual per guide IP-2008-07-04, with title page, Certificate of Authorization facsimile, statement of authority, organization charts, and sections on drawings and designs, material control, examination and inspection, nonconformity, welding, NDE, heat treatment, calibration, record retention and sample forms
- CGSB certification records for NDE personnel, plus annual vision and colour differentiation test results
- Licensed Pressure Equipment Inspector licences and the Certificate of Qualification for the Designated Pressure Equipment Inspector
- Welding procedure specifications and PQRs conforming to ASME Section IX, registered with the jurisdiction before use
- Pressure Equipment Status Report and the QMS Inspection Reporting spreadsheet
- Letter of Implementation and the semi-annual May and November inspection reports
- Pressure Equipment Inventory Updates and written notification to the Chief Inspector of any change of designated inspector
- Design submissions through the Design Submission Portal, with forms TSK-1003 and TSK-1009 as applicable
Personnel certification context
Saskatchewan is the strictest of the western provinces on this point. The TSASK quality control program guide states that personnel performing NDE must be qualified and certified in accordance with CGSB, with their qualifications maintained by the certificate holder, and requires annual vision and colour differentiation testing. That is central third-party certification through the NRCan NDT Certification Body to CAN/CGSB-48.9712, not an employer written practice, so an SNT-TC-1A Level II will not satisfy an auditor on its own. Inspection personnel need a TSASK Licensed Pressure Equipment Inspector licence, and a Designated Pressure Equipment Inspector also needs a TSASK Certificate of Qualification.
Related: the TSASK overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.