NDT Procedure Management Software in Canada

Controlled NDT procedures and techniques with revisions and approvals. Request a demo. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable. Quote on request.

Procedure control for Canadian NDT companies

Canadian NDT companies work across a patchwork of jurisdictions. A crew might spend spring on an oil sands turnaround north of Fort McMurray, summer on a pipeline spread in northern British Columbia, and autumn at an upgrader in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland or a petrochemical plant in Sarnia. Each owner has its own specifications, each province has its own pressure equipment regulator, and radiography falls under a federal regulator no matter where the job is.

Procedures sit at the centre of all of it. They have to reflect the right CSA standard and ASME code, satisfy the owner’s integrity or quality group, be approved by someone qualified to approve them, and be the current revision on the day the crew uses them. When procedures live in folders and email chains, that is a lot to hold in one Level 3’s head.

The Procedures app in the Atlantis NDT ERP gives you one controlled register. Each procedure carries its number, revision, method, scope, material, applicable standard and acceptance criteria. It moves through draft, submitted, reviewed, approved and published, with rejected and archived states, prepared, reviewed and approved by names and dates, approved revisions locked and a snapshot of every revision kept. Approvers get email notifications and reminders so nothing stalls while a crew waits.

This page looks at what shapes procedure work in Canada: ISO 9712 certification through the NRCan NDT Certification Body, CSA Z662 for pipelines, provincial pressure equipment regulators such as ABSA, CSA W59 structural work, CNSC radiography licensing and Ontario’s nuclear sector.

Who writes and approves procedures under CAN/CGSB-48.9712

Most Canadian NDT technicians are certified under CAN/CGSB-48.9712, the Canadian adoption of ISO 9712, through the NDT Certification Body at Natural Resources Canada. That scheme shapes who does what with procedures.

Under the ISO 9712 model, a Level 3 is competent to establish and validate NDT procedures and to take responsibility for them. A Level 2 can translate codes, standards, specifications and procedures into written NDT instructions adapted to the actual working conditions, and can carry out and supervise the work. A Level 1 works to written instructions under supervision. So a Canadian procedure library usually has two tiers: Level 3 procedures, and Level 2 written instructions or technique sheets that apply a procedure to a particular job.

The Procedures app handles both tiers in one register, separated by a numbering convention agreed during setup so every instruction points back to its parent procedure. The approval chain reflects the tier: a Level 3 approves procedures; instructions follow the review and approval route you define.

The Certificates app records each person’s certification by scheme, level, method, certifying body and expiry — CGSB/ISO 9712 alongside any ASNT SNT-TC-1A or CP-189 certifications held by staff who have worked for US-owned clients. You can see at a glance whether the Level 3 you are about to route a UT procedure to holds a current Level 3 in UT. Atlantis NDT does not train or certify for CGSB/ISO 9712; the app simply records those certificates. Atlantis’s own NDT training is based on ASNT SNT-TC-1A.

Pipelines: CSA Z662 and operator specifications

Pipeline work is a large part of Canadian NDT. CSA Z662, Oil and gas pipeline systems, is the standard behind it, adopted by reference by the Canada Energy Regulator for federally regulated interprovincial lines and by provincial regulators such as the Alberta Energy Regulator for lines inside a province. Z662 requires nondestructive inspection of welds to written procedures by qualified personnel and sets out requirements for radiographic and ultrasonic inspection, including mechanised and automated ultrasonic techniques used on mainline girth welds.

On top of Z662, each operator has its own welding and NDE specifications. A contractor working for several operators often carries several versions of its radiographic and AUT procedures, each tied to one operator’s specification and qualified on that operator’s project. Operators generally review and accept the contractor’s procedures before production welding starts, and automated UT procedures are often qualified on the project before use.

That is exactly where uncontrolled copies cause trouble. The Procedures app keeps each operator variant as its own record with its own number, scope, applicable standard and acceptance criteria. Each resubmission after operator comments is a new revision, with the reason for any internal rejection captured on the record and a snapshot of every revision kept.

When CSA publishes a new edition of Z662 on its periodic cycle and operators adopt it, you filter the register by standard, list every procedure that cites it, and take each through a controlled revision. The procedure used on last year’s spread stays in the history exactly as it was approved, so any integrity query about those welds can be answered with the right document.

Pressure equipment: ABSA, TSSA and provincial regulators

Pressure equipment in Canada is regulated province by province. In Alberta, ABSA administers the pressure equipment safety legislation, oversees owner-user integrity management programmes and registers designs and quality programmes. In Ontario it is the TSSA; in British Columbia, Technical Safety BC. The national standard CSA B51 covers boilers, pressure vessels and pressure piping and brings the ASME codes into Canadian use, so ASME Section V and the referencing ASME construction codes remain central to NDT procedures for pressure equipment.

For an NDT company, the effect is layered. Your UT or RT procedure is written to ASME Section V. The acceptance criteria come from the ASME construction code or the owner’s inspection specification. The owner-user, operating under a pressure equipment integrity management programme accepted by the provincial regulator, often reviews your procedures as part of its own quality system, and its auditors expect to see your procedure control.

In Alberta’s oil sands and upgraders, that owner review usually happens on the way into a turnaround, when dozens of contractors are pushing documents through the same integrity group at once. Getting your procedure package in early, with current revisions and a clear approval record, is how you avoid being the contractor whose crew sits in the laydown yard.

The Procedures app gives the integrity group what it wants to see: each procedure with its applicable standard and acceptance criteria stated, the names and dates of preparer, reviewer and approver, a locked approved revision, and the history of earlier revisions on request. Tracking the owner’s own acceptance status for each procedure package can be added as part of the customization scope agreed with you.

Structural and fabrication work: CSA W59 and CWB-certified shops

Structural steel work in Canada runs on CSA W59, Welded steel construction, with fabricators certified by the Canadian Welding Bureau under CSA W47.1 and welding inspection organisations under CSA W178.1. When your technicians inspect welds in a fabrication shop or on a building, bridge or industrial structure, the acceptance criteria usually come from W59 rather than from the American structural code, even when the fabricator also works to US contracts.

That difference is easy to lose in a procedure library that grew from US templates. A UT procedure written for one structural code does not automatically carry the right acceptance criteria for W59 work, and an auditor will spot it.

In the Procedures app, the applicable standard and acceptance criteria are explicit fields on each procedure, so you can filter the register and see which procedures are written for W59 and which are not. Where you need a W59-specific version, it becomes its own record, drafted — with the AI-assisted first draft if you like — reviewed and approved by your Level 3, and published only when it is right.

Fabricators who carry CWB certification also value a supplier who can show procedure control. When the fabricator’s quality manager asks which revision of your MT procedure applies to their job, you can answer from the register in seconds.

Radiography under the CNSC

Industrial radiography in Canada is federally regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, regardless of province. Companies using exposure devices hold a CNSC licence, run a radiation protection programme, and use Certified Exposure Device Operators. The licence and programme rely on written procedures for the use, storage, transport and emergency handling of sources, and CNSC inspectors check that those procedures are current and followed. Transport also brings in the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations and Transport Canada’s transportation of dangerous goods rules.

Radiation protection procedures deserve the same control as your technique procedures. In the Procedures app they sit in the same register with their own numbering and approval chain — typically the Radiation Safety Officer and management — and the same locked approved revisions and revision history. After a CNSC inspection leads to a change, the revision goes through the workflow and the old version is preserved as a snapshot.

Other records live where they belong. The employee NDT profile in the Certificates app records radiation safety training, radiation badge number and medical fitness expiry, and exposure device operator certification can be recorded as a certificate with its expiry so it is flagged before it lapses. The Fleet app records whether each vehicle can carry radioactive sources, with transport licence number and expiry. The Procedures app holds the written rules everyone works to.

Nuclear work in Ontario

Ontario’s CANDU stations and the supply chain around them set some of the strictest documentation expectations in Canadian NDT. Periodic inspection programmes for nuclear power plant components follow CSA N285.4, and suppliers work under nuclear quality assurance requirements such as CSA N299, which place firm expectations on document control, approval and revision.

Inspection procedures for nuclear work are commonly reviewed and accepted by the licensee before use, sometimes after technique qualification. Every revision, every reviewer comment and every approval date can become the subject of an audit question years later.

The Procedures app supports that discipline with the controls it has: a single register, a defined workflow with named preparer, reviewer and approver and dates, rejection with a recorded reason, approved revisions locked against edits, a full revision history with a snapshot of each revision, and archived procedures kept rather than deleted. Nuclear-specific extras — additional sign-off steps, fields for the licensee’s acceptance reference, stricter access rules — are part of the customization scope agreed with you.

English and French procedure sets

Companies working in Quebec, or for federally regulated clients who want documents in both official languages, often maintain procedures in English and French. The risk is obvious: the English version gets revised and the French one does not, and the two drift apart.

In the Procedures app, a French version can be held as its own controlled record, numbered so the pairing is clear, or attached as a controlled file to the same record. Either way it goes through review and approval, and the revision history shows whether both language versions were brought up to the same revision. The exact arrangement is agreed during implementation to match how your clients want bilingual documents handled.

Connected to the rest of the ERP

The Procedures app is one part of the Atlantis NDT ERP. Project tasks carry procedure and WPS references, so each job points to the procedure it runs under. The NDT Reports app captures procedure and standard references on every report type, alongside inspector, reviewer and approver signatures and the third-party inspector’s name. The Certificates app shows whether the people doing the work hold valid certifications, and timesheets warn when they do not.

For owners who want inspection results on the asset itself, Atlantis offers Digital Twin Reporting Software, a separate companion product that places inspection results on a 3D model and works alongside the ERP’s NDT Reports app.

Implementation and Level 3 support

Implementation starts with your current library: procedure numbers, revisions, methods, the standards each one cites, and who approved them. We agree numbering, revision rules and approval routes — by method, and separately for radiation protection documents — then load the register, set up approvers and reminders, and run one real revision through the workflow with your team. Anything specific to your clients or provinces is part of the agreed customization scope. The ERP is affordable, accessible and fully customizable, with pricing on request.

If your procedures need rewriting — a Z662 operator variant, a W59-specific UT procedure, or a gap review before an owner audit — Atlantis NDT offers procedure writing and review by ASNT Level III personnel through its NDT consulting services. Where your client requires CGSB Level 3 approval, your own certified Level 3 stays the approver. Book a Procedures demo for your Canadian team.

Frequently asked questions

Can the app record CGSB / ISO 9712 certifications?

Yes. The Certificates app records ISO 9712 alongside SNT-TC-1A, CP-189, PCN and CSWIP, with level, method, certifying body and expiry. Atlantis records these certificates but does not train or certify for them.

Can we keep separate procedures for each pipeline operator?

Yes. Each operator variant is its own record with its own number, applicable standard and acceptance criteria, and its own revision history.

Where do CNSC radiation protection procedures go?

In the same register, with their own numbering and approval chain, locked approved revisions and full revision history.

Does the AI draft replace our Level 3?

No. The AI-assisted draft, or the built-in template if AI is unavailable, is only a starting point. Your Level 3 reviews and approves before anything is published.

Can we run English and French versions?

Yes, as paired records or controlled attachments, set up during implementation so both versions follow the same revision control.

What happens to old revisions?

They are kept as snapshots in the revision history, and retired procedures are archived, not deleted.

Talk to us

Tell us where your crews work, which owners and operators you serve and how many procedures you control today. We will show you the register and workflow using examples that look like your own library, from a Z662 AUT procedure to a CNSC emergency procedure. Request a quote for the Procedures app.

Procedures by region

• Procedures global overview
• Procedures in United States
• Procedures in UK & Europe
• Procedures in Middle East
• Procedures in India

Works with

• NDT Reports: Method-specific NDT inspection reports, captured in the field and issued from the ERP.
• Certificates: Technician certifications, eye tests and expiry tracking against your written practice.
• Dashboards: KPI dashboards across jobs, reports, certifications and revenue.

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