Basic Principles and Responsibilities for the Review and Registration of a Design

Basic Principle:

• Before a pressure vessel can be built right, it must be designed right.

Responsibilities for Design:

Safety Codes Act:

• A person who creates, alters, has care and control of or owns a design or offers a design for use by others shall ensure that the design complies with this Act." (Section 6, Design Duties)

CSA B51 Code:

• The manufacturer maintains "responsibility for the design or construction of a boiler, pressure vessel, fitting, fired heater pressure coil, or piping." (Clause 4.1.6)

ASME Code:

• "The user or his designated agent shall establish the design requirements." (Para. U-2(a))

• The Manufacturer "... has the responsibility of complying with all of the applicable requirements ..." (Para. U-2(b))

Example of Another Code (PD 5500):

• "The manufacturer shall be responsible for the completeness and accuracy of all design calculations and for compliance with all applicable requirements of this standard for the whole vessel". (Clause 1.4.2)

Design Review and Registration:

Safety Codes Act:

• Section 40(1) states that "An Administrator may register the design of any thing, process or activity that is required by this Act to be registered if the submitted design meets the requirements of this Act and the Administrator is of the opinion that the design is safe", and

• Section 40(2) states "If this Act requires that the design ... be registered, no person shall construct or manufacture the thing ... unless the design is registered".

• Section 14 of the Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation (AR 49/2006) establishes the requirements that a person must not:

  • Construct or manufacture for use in Alberta, or
  • Import for use in Alberta
  any pressure equipment unless the design of that pressure equipment is registered.

CSA B51 Code:

• "Drawings, specifications and calculations of designs for all boilers, pressure vessels, fittings ... shall be submitted to the regulatory authority" for acceptance and registration. (Clause 4.1.1)

ASME Code:

• The Authorized Inspector "shall make such other inspections as in his judgement are necessary to permit him to certify that the vessel has been designed and constructed in accordance with the requirements" of the Code and "The Inspector has the duty of verifying that the applicable calculations have been made". (Para. U-2(e))

Example of Another Code (PD 5500):

• "The Inspecting Authority shall be responsible for verifying that all parts of the vessel have been designed in accordance with the requirements of this specification as are applicable for the conditions specified by the purchaser ....." (Clause 1.4.3)

In Summary:

• The manufacturer or person constructing or bringing into Alberta a boiler, pressure vessel, pressure piping system or fitting must submit designs, including drawings, calculations and specifications, for review and registration.

• Design Surveyors conduct an independent survey of the design to verify that it meets the requirements of the Act for registration.

Canadian Registration Number

A Canadian Registration Number (CRN) for a boiler or pressure vessel is defined by CSA B51 Clause 4.3 as:

• consisting of a letter, four digits, and a decimal point followed by up to ten digits and three letters

• the first letter and four digits are part of a sequential numbering system used by the issuing province or territory

• the first digit or letter to the right of the decimal point indicates the province that issued the particular number

• the following identifications are used in accordance with the code:

  1 - British Columbia	7 - New Brunswick
  2 - Alberta	8 - Nova Scotia
  3 - Saskatchewan	9 - Prince Edward Island
  4 - Manitoba	0 (zero) - Newfoundland
  5 - Ontario	T - Northwest Territories
  6 - Quebec	Y - Yukon Territory
  	N - Nunavut

  
  

• the letter C may follow the designation of first registration if a design is registered in all jurisdictions.  No jurisdiction issues the letter C; it is a convenience for stamping once the manufacturer has received all the registrations.

• to be eligible for use in Alberta, the CRN must have the digit 2, or the letter C, somewhere after the decimal point.

For example, the following could be valid CRNs: B1079.23 and M2138.5C

• A Canadian Registration Number or Pressure Piping number is issued if the design is satisfactory.