More CRN Registration Changes in 2022 to be Aware Of – Updated

The following notes enlarge upon CAMMAR’s article from the February edition of Applying Pressure this year about?CRN regulatory requirements, and can be appended to it.??

In late May, significant input about CRN registration was published by APEGA (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta), the Alberta engineering regulator,?here.?As noted in APEGA’s website publication, “the AB Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act (EGPA) regulates the practice of engineering as applicable to all engineered goods, including pressure equipment.?The Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation (PESR) regulates pressure equipment.”?To date, a search of ABSA’s (Alberta Boilers Safety Association’s) website does not find a reference to APEGA’s website publication, and no mention of APEGA’s website article was made in the June edition of ABSA’s Pressure News.

Not all details from the APEGA website article are included herein and the reader is encouraged to read the APEGA website article in its entirety.??

Overall, the APEGA website publication makes it clear that for pressure equipment destined for use in Alberta, professional engineers are held to a higher standard by APEGA than all other applicants for CRN registration and that, for professional engineers registered in Alberta and APEGA permit holders, no exemption or exception under Section 2(4) of the EGPA applies.?

Highlights and inferences from the APEGA website publication about CRN requirements include:

• ABSA reportedly no longer accepts CRN applications that require professional authentication, unless authentication is provided by an Alberta registered professional engineer.
• If the design and / or fabrication of pressure equipment requires engineering theory not falling?entirely?within the confines of the PESR, then professional authentication (AB PEng stamped and sealed documentation) by an Alberta registered professional engineer is required.??
• Pressure equipment (boilers, pressure vessels, fittings, pressure piping systems, thermal liquid heating systems, etc) not exempt from CRN registration, that is not yet properly registered with a CRN in Alberta, is not a commercial good.?If an engineer or engineering company provides engineering for the design or fabrication of that equipment, and / or submits an application for CRN registration of it to ABSA, then professional authentication (AB PEng stamped and sealed documentation) by an Alberta registered professional engineer is required, regardless of whether ABSA requests a PEng stamp or not.
• Pressure equipment requiring engineering work for its design and / or fabrication must have professional authentication (AB PEng stamped and sealed documentation) whenever such pressure equipment is exempt from CRN registration.
• If an engineer or engineering company based outside of Alberta is used to design and / or fabricate pressure equipment for sale or use in Alberta, then professional authentication (AB PEng stamped and sealed documentation) by an Alberta registered professional engineer is required, regardless of where the work occurs.
• Fittings, that have all materials, dimensions, design pressures, design temperatures, and all other design parameters clearly specified in a PESR adopted code referenced standard, and that thereby do not need the application of engineering theory to design or fabricate, do not need authentication (AB stamped and sealed documentation).?However, few referenced standards meet all these requirements.

Referenced standards for fittings, and how much engineering is required to properly use them, will be the topic of subsequent CAMMAR posts.

Cameron?Sterling is a Professional Engineer registered in Alberta and Ontario.?As the Managing Director at CAMMAR Corporation?in Edmonton, Alberta, he assists clientele by providing comments and appropriate insight pursuant to proper pressure equipment design and CRN registration in accordance with good engineering practice, applicable code, and regulation requirements, encourages responsible inter-provincial harmonization that upholds public safety, and is a safety advocate.?He holds a BSc in?Mathematics, and a BSc?and?MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta. He?can be contacted on LinkedIn here.