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Registration of Mobile Pressure Piping

A pressure piping system having a volume not exceeding 500 litres is exempt from design registration under the provisions of PESR AR-49/2006, Section 14(6)(a). This exemption applies for the design registration only; all other Regulation requirements with respect to the manufacturer, fabrication, inspection and testing, documenting (e.g. AB-83), operating, unsafe condition reporting, etc. are still applicable and must be complied with by manufacturers and owners.

This exemption is applicable to stand alone, mobile piping units, usually identified as skid or rig piping. However, if mobile piping having a volume of 500 litres or less is installed as part of a piping system exceeding an aggregate volume of 500 litres, then the mobile piping unit design must be registered.

The registration of the mobile piping unit design is typically done together with the registration of the entire piping system. This approach has led to inefficiencies in processing the review, leading to some owners and manufacturers seeking registration of stand alone mobile piping units that may form part of a piping system having an aggregate volume exceeding 500 litres.

The registration requirements for mobile piping are almost identical with the registration requirements for plant piping registrations. Piping Registration Requirements.

The only difference between mobile piping and plant piping registration is with respect to the manufacturer. A mobile piping design registration is specific to a single manufacturer. If the same design is intended to be constructed by several different manufacturers then a design registration application shall be made for each individual manufacturer.

Therefore:

  • Completion of ABSA form AB-31 must indicate under Manufacturer’s Full Legal Company Name and Address, the information of the actual mobile piping manufacturer, and NOT of the piping Owner;
  • Completion of ABSA form AB-96 must indicate:
  1. Line #1: “N/A” ;
  2. Line #2: must provide description ;
  3. Line #3: “Alberta” ;
  4. Line #4: “N/A” ;
  5. Line #5: must provide only the estimated completion date ;
  6. Line #6(a) & (b): must provide the required information. It can be the same as on Line #7 if the manufacturer has engineering capabilities and valid permit to practice ;
  7. Line #7: “actual manufacturer legal company name and address”.

A mobile piping design registration is valid as long as any changes to the Regulation and/or the applicable piping code don’t affect the registered design. If changes to the Regulations and/or piping Code occur and such changes affect the design registration, then the manufacturer or original registrant must re-apply for design registration.

The manufacturer of registered mobile piping design may fabricate as many identical units as required without having to re-register the design if the registered design is not changed or is not affected by changes to the Regulation and/or piping codes.

Mobile piping must maintain traceability and be able to be positively identified and linked to the AB-83 or AB-83F forms.

NOTE:

Mobile piping shall be constructed and documented as required by the PESR AR-49/2006 Section 25 and 26.

ABSA Piping Construction Forms: http://wwwnew.absa.ca/absa-publications-and-forms/ . ABSA forms AB-83a and AB-83Fa provide guidance on the completion of the required forms.

Boiler Internal and External Piping fabrication, inspection, testing and documenting must be in strict compliance with the requirements of ASME Section I and B31.1 or the applicable requirements of the Regulations.

One set of the mobile piping construction document(s) must be made available to the Owner prior to placing in service the piping.

ABSA has noted an increasing demand from owners and manufacturers, to register the designs of mobile piping units. ABSA Design Survey department will accept design registration applications and issue registration numbers to acceptable designs for mobile piping systems that do not exceed 500 litres. It is noted that design registration is voluntary unless the mobile piping unit is to be used as part of a larger piping system.

Mobile piping registration number example:
PP-0123-AB-xxxx-P

Where:

  • PP: indicates pressure piping falling under the provisions of the Regulation and ABSA’s jurisdiction;
  • 0123: indicates the piping manufacturer’s identification number to be assigned by ABSA’s Design Survey department upon registration;
  • AB: indicates that this piping can be installed anywhere in Alberta;
  • xxxx: indicates the actual registration number to be assigned by ABSA’s Design Survey department upon registration;
  • “P”: indicates the type of piping (plant). In this example “P” is the designator for Oil & Gas process piping. There are several piping type designators that are issued by ABSA’s Design Survey department upon registration.

Last Modified: 2/14/2019 4:26:44 PM