TSSA Audit Preparation for Inspection Companies
A TSSA audit runs in 6 stages, beginning with determine the activities to be authorized and prepare a written quality program.. Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), Boilers and Pressure Vessels Safety Division, administering the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 and O. Reg. 220/01 tests the system by sampling finished work backwards to the records behind it, so preparation means reconciling records to jobs rather than rewriting manuals.
Ontario splits the requirement in two. A firm needs a Certificate of Authorization, obtained by submitting a written Quality Program Manual, undergoing a TSSA audit and providing a demonstration item showing adequate controls for the activities claimed; deficiencies must be closed before the certificate issues. The audit team includes a Quality Assessment Specialist plus an Authorized Inspector or Authorized Inspector Supervisor. Separately, individuals inspecting for an Authorized Inspection Agency need a personal Certificate of Competency, which requires a National Board examination, a TSSA examination and an in-service commission. Ontario is unusual in tying inspection personnel to employment by the certificate holder rather than allowing a contracted inspector. 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: Qualified personnel performing alternate piping inspections who are contractors rather than employees, contrary to clause 2.
Source: TSSA Advisory BPV-001-23, Alternate Process for Pressure Piping Inspection in Ontario, dated 2023-04-17 and effective 2023-05-01, referencing CSA B51-19 clause 4.10.2.1 as modified by Code Adoption Document BPV-20-01 R1; TSSA Accreditation of Owner/User Self-Inspection Repair Program, Guide for Review Teams, June 2007 Rev. 4; TSSA Accredited Inspection Agencies Acceptable to TSSA, 2008-05-08 Rev. 8; TSSA Certification: Boilers and Pressure Vessels, Types of Inspections, and Boiler & Pressure Vessel Owners pages; Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 and O. Reg. 220/01. Verified on tssa.org on 2026-08-21.
| Stage | What happens | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Determine the activities to be authorized and prepare a written Quality Program Manual addressing the CSA B51 and National Board. | Where the paperwork is tested against itself |
| Stage 2 | Submit the completed checklist with one controlled copy of the QC Manual to TSSA head office at least one month. | Where the paperwork is tested against practice |
| Stage 3 | TSSA reviews the manual and schedules an implementation review; the audit team comprises at minimum a Quality Assessment Specialist plus. | Where the paperwork is tested against practice |
| Stage 4 | Demonstrate implementation through a repair job package or demonstration item covering every element of the program, including NDE and heat. | Where the paperwork is tested against practice |
| Stage 5 | Close out all deficiencies identified during the audit; TSSA does not issue the Certificate of Authorization until they are addressed. | Where the paperwork is tested against practice |
| Stage 6 | TSSA issues the Certificate of Authorization stating the authorized scope; individual inspectors separately obtain a Certificate of Competency after the. | Where the paperwork is tested against practice |
| Renewal | Certificates of Competency for boiler and pressure vessel inspectors renew annually and expire on March 1 each year; TSSA sends renewal invoices roughly 60 days before expiration and a late renewal fee applies after the deadline. Renewal requires a valid and current National Board In-Service Commission card verified against the listed employer. A certificate not renewed within 12 months of expiry must go through reinstatement. Certificates of Inspection for equipment run on 12, 24 or 36 month cycles depending on equipment classification. | Diarised from the certificate date, not the last audit |
How long does TSSA 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 Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), Boilers and Pressure Vessels Safety Division, administering the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 and O. Reg. 220/01 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 TSSA findings?
Qualified personnel performing alternate piping inspections who are contractors rather than employees, contrary to clause 2.1 of Advisory BPV-001-23 which requires them to be an employee of the Certificate of Authorization holder., QC Manual does not address the qualification and certification of NDT personnel to CAN/CGSB-48.9712, which the owner/user self-inspection checklist lists as the Canadian jurisdictional requirement., Inspector scope mismatch: personnel certified only to API 570 signing off on vessel work, where API 570 alone supports piping only., Work performed outside the authorized scope stated on the Certificate of Authorization, or the alternate piping process used without first applying to add it to the scope.. 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 TSSA 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 TSSA 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 TSSA 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 TSSA audit blind typically collect findings that a sampling exercise would have caught.
What the auditor asks to see
- Quality Program Manual covering the activities claimed, with an organization chart showing the inspector-to-supervisor reporting hierarchy
- Completed owner/user self-inspection checklist cross-referencing each requirement to a QC Manual paragraph, submitted with one controlled copy of the manual at least one month before the implementation review
- Demonstration item or repair job package showing all elements of the program, including non-destructive examination and heat treatment
- NDE procedures and evidence that NDE personnel are qualified in accordance with the applicable code section and CAN/CGSB-48.9712
- Registered welding procedures (WPS/PQR) and welder performance qualification records reviewed annually
- Records of API 510 and/or API 570 certification, National Board In-Service, Authorized Inspector or Repair course completion, and TSSA Regulatory Requirements training Module 1
- Certificate of Inspection records for each device and evidence of design registration (CRN) for all equipment
- Quality program supplement where the alternate pressure piping inspection process is added to an existing Certificate of Authorization
- Calibration records for NDE equipment, and retained UT reports and RT films per the applicable code
Findings to close before the audit
- Qualified personnel performing alternate piping inspections who are contractors rather than employees, contrary to clause 2.1 of Advisory BPV-001-23 which requires them to be an employee of the Certificate of Authorization holder.
- QC Manual does not address the qualification and certification of NDT personnel to CAN/CGSB-48.9712, which the owner/user self-inspection checklist lists as the Canadian jurisdictional requirement.
- Inspector scope mismatch: personnel certified only to API 570 signing off on vessel work, where API 570 alone supports piping only.
- Work performed outside the authorized scope stated on the Certificate of Authorization, or the alternate piping process used without first applying to add it to the scope.
- No quality program supplement added to the existing manual when the alternate piping inspection program was adopted.
- Missing TSSA Regulatory Requirements training Module 1 completion records for personnel signing Alternate Piping Data Forms.
- Boilers or pressure vessels in service without a Canadian Registration Number, which cannot be remedied retroactively by registering equipment already purchased.
- UT reports and RT films not retained for the period the applicable code requires, and NDE equipment calibration records incomplete.
Related: the TSSA overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.