NDT Inspection Management Software for Inspection Companies in Nova Scotia

Short answer: The Atlantis ERP solution is a fully customized ERP built for NDT and inspection companies, and it fits the way Nova Scotia inspection firms actually work: shipyard and naval refit jobs in Halifax Harbour, utility outages at thermal plants, pulp and paper shutdowns, offshore decommissioning and fabrication shop work. It tracks technician certificates (CAN/CGSB-48.9712, SNT-TC-1A, CP-189 and others) with automatic expiry status, controls instrument calibration, dispatches crews, captures reports offline and runs quoting through invoicing in one system. Implementation is done remotely and typically takes 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff; it depends on how clean your existing records are. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable. Book a Nova Scotia ERP demo.

Most NDT companies in Nova Scotia are small to mid-sized. A typical firm has a handful of Level 2 technicians, one or two Level 3s or an outside Level 3, a mixed fleet of flaw detectors, thickness gauges and yokes, maybe a radiography crew, and a client list that swings between marine, power, pulp and paper, and industrial maintenance. The office side is usually a spreadsheet for certifications, another for calibration, a shared drive of report templates and an accounting package. That arrangement holds until a shipyard or utility auditor asks for the evidence behind a single report from eighteen months ago. This page explains what the Nova Scotia market asks of an inspection company, which parts of that the Atlantis ERP handles out of the box, and what gets configured for your business during implementation.

The Nova Scotia inspection market: where NDT work comes from

Direct answer: NDT demand in Nova Scotia is concentrated around Halifax Harbour (naval shipbuilding, ship repair, the port and fuel terminals), the Strait of Canso and Point Tupper (deep-water industrial port, pulp and paper, fuel storage), Cape Breton and Pictou County (power generation and heavy industry), and a spread of manufacturing, aerospace maintenance and fabrication shops along the Highway 102 corridor. Offshore work today leans toward decommissioning and the new offshore renewables mandate.

Halifax Harbour. Halifax Shipyard, operated by Irving Shipbuilding, is the combat-vessel yard under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy. It built the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and began construction of the first of the Royal Canadian Navy's River-class destroyers in 2026, with a build programme expected to run for decades. That means steady demand for weld inspection on hull blocks, piping and structural steel, much of it to classification-society and naval quality requirements. Across the harbour, HMC Dockyard and the navy's fleet maintenance facility handle refit and repair, and commercial ship repair adds dry-dock and afloat work. The Port of Halifax handles container, bulk and roll-on cargo, and the fuel terminal in Dartmouth on the site of the former Imperial refinery keeps tankage, piping and loading infrastructure in service. For an inspection company, the harbour means many short jobs with different paperwork for each client.

Strait of Canso and Point Tupper. The Strait of Canso is one of the deepest ice-free harbours on the east coast of North America. Point Tupper hosts the Port Hawkesbury Paper mill and a large marine fuel terminal, and it has been put forward for new energy projects. Tank, piping and pressure vessel inspection, plus mill shutdown work, are the staple jobs here.

Cape Breton and Pictou County. Nova Scotia Power's thermal generating stations, including Lingan and Point Aconi in Cape Breton and Trenton in Pictou County, plus Tufts Cove in Dartmouth, run boilers, steam piping, turbines and pressure parts that are inspected during planned outages. Outage work is compressed into short windows, so mobilisation, crew certification and calibration status have to be right before the first shift.

Manufacturing and aerospace. Michelin operates tire plants in Granton, Bridgewater and Waterville, and the area around Halifax Stanfield International Airport supports aircraft maintenance and aerospace component work. Fabrication shops in Dartmouth's Burnside park, Truro and the Annapolis Valley supply structural steel, pressure vessels and process skids, and many run in-house MT, PT, UT and VT under CSA W47.1 or a customer's code.

Offshore. The Sable Offshore Energy Project and Deep Panuke have ceased production and moved into decommissioning. The regulator, now called the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator, has an expanded mandate that includes offshore renewable energy. Inspection firms that work offshore or at supply bases in Halifax face the strictest documentation expectations in the province.

Who sets the rules for inspection work in Nova Scotia

Direct answer: Boilers and pressure equipment are regulated by the province under the Technical Safety Act and its Boiler and Pressure Equipment Regulations, administered by the Technical Safety Division, with CSA B51 and Canadian Registration Numbers for design registration. Offshore activity falls under the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator, industrial radiography is licensed federally by the CNSC, and personnel certification nationally is CAN/CGSB-48.9712.

The Technical Safety Act and the Boiler and Pressure Equipment Regulations require boilers and pressure vessels to be installed, inspected in service and repaired under the oversight of the Chief Inspector, and repairs and alterations to boilers, pressure vessels and high-pressure piping are themselves inspected. New pressure equipment needs a Canadian Registration Number before it is fabricated or installed; see our notes on CSA B51 and CRN registration. An NDT company is rarely the regulated owner, but its reports go straight into the owner's file and its repair-weld examinations sit on the critical path of every return to service.

Offshore, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (formerly the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board; the name changed when the Accord Act amendments came into force on 31 January 2025) oversees safety and environmental protection for offshore petroleum activity and now offshore renewables. Operators and their contractors are expected to keep controlled documentation, competence records and traceable inspection evidence. Interprovincial and international pipelines, such as the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline that crosses the province, are regulated by the Canada Energy Regulator, with CSA Z662 as the pipeline standard.

Industrial radiography anywhere in Canada is licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and exposure device operators need CNSC certification; see CNSC compliance for inspection companies. Provincial occupational health and safety law applies on every site you send a crew to. Personnel certification nationally is CAN/CGSB-48.9712, the Canadian adoption of ISO 9712. The Canadian General Standards Board, which published the standard, closed on 1 April 2026; CAN/CGSB-48.9712 remains valid, but confirm the current certification body before planning renewals. Fabricators working under CSA W47.1 often need inspection organisations certified to CSA W178.1 and welding inspectors certified to W178.2.

None of these bodies certifies software, and the Atlantis ERP does not claim any regulatory approval. What they create is an evidence chain. For any report, an auditor can ask who did the work, what certification they held on that date, which instrument and probe they used, when it was last calibrated and which procedure revision applied. The ERP's job is to answer that in minutes, not days.

What shipyards, utilities and mills ask of NDT vendors

Direct answer: Nova Scotia clients typically want a prequalification file (safety programme, insurance and often a contractor-management platform account), a personnel file with current certificates and vision tests, a calibration file for each instrument, Level 3-approved procedures, and reports in the client's own format. Defence and offshore clients add tighter document control and traceability.

The requests vary by client type. A shipyard wants technicians certified to the scheme its customer and classification society accept, inspection records tied to drawing and weld numbers, and reports that slot into its own quality system. A power utility wants a crew mobilised for a fixed outage date, with every technician's certificate, vision test and site orientation current before arrival, and a daily record of what was examined. A pulp mill wants thickness surveys and weld inspection reports filed against its equipment numbers, often in an Excel layout its reliability team already uses. An offshore operator or decommissioning contractor wants competence evidence, controlled procedures and full traceability.

Each request lands on a different desk in a small company: HR holds the certificates, the equipment room holds the calibration certificates, the Level 3 holds the procedures, the operations lead holds the schedule and the bookkeeper holds the invoices. When these records live in separate tools, the business depends on one or two people remembering to cross-check them. The Atlantis ERP connects them so that an expired certificate shows up at dispatch, on the timesheet and in the report record, and an out-of-calibration gauge is flagged when someone tries to assign it to a job.

What the Atlantis ERP does for Nova Scotia NDT companies

Direct answer: The Atlantis ERP brings technician certification tracking, equipment and calibration control, crew dispatch, offline field reporting, procedure control, quoting, timesheets and invoicing into one system for inspection companies. The table maps common Nova Scotia needs to built-in features; anything not listed is configured during implementation.

Each module has its own page under ERP apps, including certificates, team assignments, asset management, NDT reports and procedures. The product overview is on the Atlantis ERP page.

Certification tracking for CGSB, ASNT, CNSC and CSA W178.2 records

Direct answer: Every certificate a technician holds is stored as its own record with scheme, level, method, certifying body and dates. A CAN/CGSB-48.9712 certificate is recorded under the ISO 9712 scheme with the certifying body named, and employer certifications under an SNT-TC-1A or CP-189 written practice sit alongside it. CNSC exposure device operator and CSA W178.2 inspector certificates can be recorded the same way so they get the same warnings.

Technicians in Nova Scotia often carry several certifications at once. A UT technician on a shipyard contract may hold a CGSB Level 2 for Canadian work and an employer certification under an SNT-TC-1A written practice for a US-owned customer or a US-code project. A radiographer needs a method certification and a CNSC certification to operate an exposure device. A welding inspector may also hold CSA W178.2. When those records live in different spreadsheets, a renewal eventually slips through.

In the Atlantis ERP each certificate record holds the scheme (SNT-TC-1A, CP-189, ISO 9712, PCN, CSWIP or other), the level (trainee, I, II or III), the method, the certifying body, the industry sector, issue, expiry and renewal dates, OJT hours, training hours, whether the exam was passed, and attachments such as a scanned certificate. Status is computed automatically. Vision tests are tracked separately with near vision (Jaeger J1 or J2), far vision, colour perception, contrast, the examiner, the clinic, the certificate file and the expiry date. Examination sheets hold general, specific and practical scores against a passing score.

Certificate templates per scheme set the validity in months, whether a vision test or exam is required, and the minimum OJT and training hours, so a new record starts from the rules of the scheme it belongs to. The employee NDT profile shows the technician flag, highest level, methods certified, radiation safety training, radiation badge number and medical fitness expiry. Daily checks create warning tasks 90 days ahead of any certificate or vision-test expiry, and configurable email alerts go to the people you choose, with look-ahead days and a resend interval. Company certifications, such as an ISO 9001 registration or a CSA W178.1 certification held by the firm, can be tracked with their own alert days.

If your company runs an employer-based programme, Atlantis can also help on the training and Level III side, separately from the software: see NDT consulting in Canada and ASNT SNT-TC-1A training for Canadian employers. Atlantis training is SNT-TC-1A only; it does not train toward CGSB certification, though the ERP records CGSB certificates.

Equipment, calibration and radiography logistics across the province

Direct answer: Every flaw detector, gauge, probe, yoke and accessory is tracked by serial number with its calibration status, assigned person and condition. Equipment is issued and returned with approvals, reservations prevent clashes, and the system warns when someone assigns out-of-calibration kit to a job. The Fleet app records which vehicles can carry radioactive sources and their transport licence expiry.

Nova Scotia jobs are not far apart by western Canadian standards, but kit still travels: from a Dartmouth base to Point Tupper on Monday, to a Cape Breton outage on Wednesday and back to a harbour job on Friday. Without a record of who has what, probes and calibration blocks go missing and someone eventually takes an instrument out of its calibration window.

The asset management module records each item's equipment type, assigned person, condition, asset tag, firmware, accessories and lifecycle stage (new, active, in calibration, in repair, rented out, retired or disposed). Issue and return go through supervisor and manager approval with the condition recorded both ways. Reservations stop two crews booking the same phased array unit for the same week, and inbound and outbound movements are logged. Consumables such as couplant, magnetic particle inks, penetrant kits and PPE carry reorder levels and low-stock flags.

Calibration records hold the provider, certificate number, standard, range, uncertainty, accredited-lab flag, pass, fail or conditional result and next due date. A separate calibration certificate register holds the lab's accreditation number, valid, expiring or expired status and the PDF, with expiry alerts. The maintenance log covers preventive and corrective work, repairs, cleaning, firmware updates and probe replacement with condition before and after. Purchase records can mark vendors as OEM, dealer or calibration lab, with accreditation number and expiry.

For radiography, the Fleet app records each vehicle's purpose, whether it can carry radioactive sources, the transport licence number and expiry, and which project and driver it is assigned to, with dates and mileage. Source inventories, leak tests and dosimetry are part of your CNSC licence obligations; the ERP holds the records and dates you choose to configure, and it does not replace your radiation safety officer's own programme.

Shipyard, naval and marine reporting in Halifax

Direct answer: The NDT reports module covers 17 report types, including UT, RT, MT, PT, VT, PAUT, TOFD, UT thickness and hardness, each with its own numbering. Marine mode adds a vessel cover page and merges the class certificate, the inspector's Level II certificate and the calibration certificate into one PDF, which suits ship repair and new-build inspection packs.

Marine and naval work is where Nova Scotia inspection companies feel document pressure most. Each report has to identify the vessel, the block or compartment, the weld or drawing number, the procedure and acceptance standard, and the people who did, reviewed and approved the work. In the Atlantis ERP each report captures work order, request, WPS, contract, drawing, procedure and standard references, carries method-specific data (UT probe calibration tables, RT source, technique, IQI type and placement, MT technique and particle type, PT method and developer, PAUT focal laws) and records weld or job lines with defect type and orientation and an overall result.

The report workflow runs from draft to in progress, review, approved and sent, with inspector, reviewer and approver signatures and the name and signature of a third-party or authorized inspector where one is involved. Marine mode adds the vessel cover page and photo, inspection location and dates, and a PDF that merges the classification-society certificate from a library covering DNV, ABS, Lloyd's Register, BV, RINA, IRS and ClassNK, the inspector's Level II certificate and the calibration certificate. Photos print in a 2-up grid.

Defence work carries its own security and quality requirements set by the prime contractor and the Crown. How data for that kind of work is stored, who can see it and where it is hosted are discussed during scoping, not assumed. Reports can also feed a 3D view through Digital Twin Reporting and Atlantis Digital Twins in Halifax when a client wants indications and thickness trends shown on a model.

Compliance, reporting and data questions in Nova Scotia

Direct answer: The Atlantis ERP keeps the records an auditor asks for, but it is not a regulator-approved system and does not file anything with the Technical Safety Division, CNSOER or CNSC on your behalf. Hosting location, data residency, language and record-retention periods are discussed during scoping so they match your clients' contracts.

Questions Nova Scotia buyers raise most often are practical. Where is the data hosted and can it stay in Canada? How long are records kept, and can a report from five years ago be reproduced with the procedure revision that applied? Can a client be given its own reports without seeing anyone else's? Can the system hold records for a CSA W178.1 audit or an ISO 9001 surveillance visit? Each is answered for your company during scoping, because the right answer depends on your contracts.

What is built in: procedure control with locked approved revisions and full history, report records with signatures and references, certificate and vision-test history with attachments, calibration certificates with lab accreditation details, and NCR and corrective-action workflows configured for your quality system. Procedure first drafts can be generated with AI assistance (falling back to a built-in template), and a Level III still reviews and approves every procedure before it is published. Email reminders go to approvers when approvals are pending.

Implementation for a Nova Scotia inspection company

Direct answer: Implementation is remote and typically takes 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff; it depends on how clean your existing records are. The work is importing technicians, certificates, equipment and calibration history, setting up report templates and procedures, configuring invoicing and taxes, and training your office and field staff.

A typical sequence starts with a scoping call to agree which apps you need, which report layouts must be reproduced and which client formats matter most. Your certificate spreadsheet, equipment list, calibration certificates and client list are cleaned and imported. Report templates are built for your common methods, with marine mode switched on if you do ship work. Procedure documents are loaded into the register with their current revision. Invoicing is set up with your cost centres, rate types and HST configured for Nova Scotia. Field technicians install the offline app on their phones or tablets and run a test job before go-live.

The biggest variable is data. If certificates are already in one spreadsheet with consistent dates, import is quick. If they are scattered across folders and email attachments, the first week is spent gathering them. Nothing about the timeline depends on being near Atlantis; training is done over video calls with recorded sessions for staff who join later.

Integrations with SAP, Maximo, NetSuite and QuickBooks

Direct answer: The Atlantis ERP has an open REST API and can integrate with SAP, Maximo, NetSuite, QuickBooks or any system that accepts API connections. Each integration is scoped per implementation, so you only build the links your clients and your accounts team actually need.

Two integration patterns come up in Nova Scotia. Some inspection companies already run QuickBooks or another accounting package and want the ERP to handle operations while invoices or journals flow to accounting. Others serve large asset owners who run SAP or Maximo for maintenance and want inspection results or job status pushed into their work orders. Both are scoped during implementation. Field devices also use the REST API to pull jobs assigned to a technician, the equipment issued to them, and to submit and sync reports.

Spreadsheets vs generic ERP vs Atlantis ERP

Direct answer: Spreadsheets cost nothing to start but cannot enforce certificate or calibration rules. Generic ERP handles finance and stock well but knows nothing about NDT levels, methods or calibration. The Atlantis ERP is built around NDT records and is customized for each company.

If you are comparing products, the closest specialist alternatives are NDT reporting tools and inspection-body software from other regions. Ask any vendor the same questions: can it record CGSB and ASNT certificates side by side, does it stop an out-of-calibration instrument being assigned, can it work offline in a hull, and can you see a demo with your own report layout. More on what to compare is in our software comparison guide and NDT software buyer's guide.

Atlantis ERP across Nova Scotia cities and neighbouring provinces

Direct answer: The Atlantis ERP is cloud-delivered and supported remotely, so it serves inspection companies anywhere in Nova Scotia. Halifax has its own page; firms in Dartmouth, Sydney, Port Hawkesbury, Truro and Pictou County use the same product and implementation approach.

• Halifax and Dartmouth: shipbuilding, naval refit, port and fuel terminal work, and the Burnside fabrication cluster. See NDT ERP in Halifax, plus practical NDT in Halifax and NDT training in Halifax.
• Sydney and Cape Breton: generating stations, port activity and industrial maintenance.
• Port Hawkesbury and Point Tupper: the pulp mill, fuel terminal and deep-water port on the Strait of Canso.
• Truro and Pictou County: fabrication, manufacturing and the Trenton generating station.
• South Shore and Annapolis Valley: manufacturing plants and small fabrication shops.

Many Nova Scotia firms also work in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. See NDT ERP in Saint John for the New Brunswick refinery and port market, and our other provincial pages for Ontario and Alberta if your crews travel west.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best ERP for a small NDT company in Nova Scotia?

The best fit is software that tracks technician certificates, instrument calibration, crew dispatch, NDT reports and invoicing in one place without heavy customisation. The Atlantis ERP is built for that and is fully customized for each company. Ask for a demo with your own report layout before you decide.

Can the Atlantis ERP track CAN/CGSB-48.9712 certificates?

Yes. CGSB certificates are recorded under the ISO 9712 scheme with the certifying body named, alongside SNT-TC-1A, CP-189, PCN or CSWIP certificates, each with level, method and expiry. The standard remains valid after the Canadian General Standards Board closed on 1 April 2026; confirm the current certification body for renewals.

Does it work for shipyard and ship repair inspection in Halifax?

Yes. Marine mode adds a vessel cover page and merges the classification-society certificate, the inspector's Level II certificate and the calibration certificate into one PDF. Reports capture drawing, WPS and weld references with defect type and orientation.

Is the software approved by the Nova Scotia Technical Safety Division or CNSOER?

No software is approved by those bodies, and the Atlantis ERP makes no such claim. It keeps the certificate, calibration, procedure and report records that auditors and owners ask for, so the evidence is ready when needed.

Can technicians write reports without mobile signal?

Yes. The installable field app works offline, stores drafts and photos on the device and syncs when a connection is available. It includes a method picker, photo capture, on-screen signature and PDF preview.

How long does implementation take?

Typically 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff; it depends on how clean your existing records are. Implementation and training are delivered remotely.

Can our data be hosted in Canada?

Hosting location and data residency are discussed during scoping so they match your clients' contract requirements, including any defence or offshore conditions.

Does it track radiography vehicles and CNSC certifications?

The Fleet app records whether a vehicle can carry radioactive sources and its transport licence number and expiry. CNSC exposure device operator certificates can be recorded as technician certifications so they receive the same expiry warnings.

Can it connect to QuickBooks or a client's SAP or Maximo?

Yes. The open REST API supports integrations with SAP, Maximo, NetSuite, QuickBooks or any system that accepts API connections, scoped per implementation.

Does it calculate inspection intervals or remaining life?

No. The ERP manages people, equipment, procedures, jobs, reports and billing. Thickness readings can be recorded in UT thickness reports, but code-based calculations remain the inspector's engineering work.

How much does the Atlantis ERP cost?

Pricing is quote on request, because each system is configured for the company's size, apps and integrations. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable.

Get a Nova Scotia NDT ERP demo

If your certificates, calibration records and reports are spread across spreadsheets and folders, a short demo will show whether the Atlantis ERP fits your Nova Scotia operation. Bring a sample report and your certificate list, and we will walk through how they would look in the system. Request a demo for your Nova Scotia team, ask for a quote or talk to us about shipyard and marine reporting.

More Atlantis NDT services in Nova Scotia

• NDT training and certification in Nova Scotia
• Level III consulting in Nova Scotia
• Practical NDT simulator in Nova Scotia