Guarded Plant status allows a company to operate a boiler under reduced supervision, and permits the Chief/Shift Engineer to leave the boiler room to perform other maintenance/checks.
To operate as a Guarded Plant a company must undergo an audit to ensure all fail-safe controls, audio/visuals alarms, and licensing requirements are met in accordance with the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act and Regulations set out by the Government of Saskatchewan.
How to Operate as a Guarded Plant
The boiler room of a Guarded Plant should be a restricted area, accessible to Authorized Personnel only.
YEAR 0 – OBTAIN INITIAL GUARDED PLANT STATUS APPROVAL
1. Submit Application for Guarded Plant
- Complete the Application for Guarded Plant Licence form to apply for guarded plant status for boilers requiring continuous supervision.
2. Arrange for Third Party Inspection/Control Testing and a Guarded Plant Audit
- Once your application has been reviewed, you will receive a confirmation email outlining how to arrange for a TSASK inspector to audit the control testing.
3. Receive Guarded Plant Audit Approval
- During third party testing, a TSASK Inspector must be present to complete a Guarded Plant Audit Checklist, and ensure all fail-safe controls, alarm systems, and additional legislative requirements are met.
- Upon successful completion and approval of the audit, you will receive your Guarded Plant Licence & Certificate via email, in addition to a demand service invoice (minimum of 2 hours, and reasonable travel expenses) for audit related expenses.
4. Pay Audit Invoice
YEAR 1 AND 2 – MAINTAIN GUARDED PLANT STATUS APPROVAL
5. Schedule Annual Third Party Audit
- TSASK will send out an email notification reminding you to schedule your Third Party Audit.
6. Test Boiler Controls and Submit copy of Third Party Audit to TSASK
- To maintain the validity of your Guarded Plant Licence, you are required to ensure that the boiler controls are tested at least once a year, and provide the audit results to TSASK.
SUBMIT ANNUAL THIRD PARTY AUDIT REPORT
YEAR 3 – RENEW PLANT LICENCE (2 MONTHS PRIOR TO LICENCE EXPIRY)
7. Renew Guarded Plant Licence
- TSASK will send out an email notification to remind you that it is time to renew your licence, and provide you with links to the online application and payment form.
8. Repeat Process Steps 1 through 7*
- Step 2 Exception* – Upon Renewal, when Third party Inspection/Control testing occurs, a TSASK Inspector may be present if scheduling permits, otherwise an independent internal inspection will be performed by TSASK at a later date.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Boilers & Pressure Vessels
To help ensure the safe operation of boilers under reduced supervision, TSASK requires that boiler control testing is performed at least once a year by a Third Party Auditor. Upon completion of this audit, the Guarded Plant owner must provide TSASK with a copy of the report.
- Boilers & Pressure Vessels
Yes, please include the following when you submit your application and payment:
- List of Operator Duties: include the job description of the Boiler Operator, and a list of all duties performed before leaving, while away from, and after returning to the boiler room (including time frames). These duties of the Power Engineer, while they are away from the boiler room, must be upholding to the safe operation of the plant and the duties shall be acceptable to the TSASK inspector.
- Alarm Response Time: this will be checked during the audit to give the inspector an idea of how long it will take the operator to receive the alarm notification, return to the boiler room, and correct the issue. A reasonable time for returning to the boiler room is 10 minutes for plants operating under continuous supervision. For plants operating under periodic supervision or general supervision, operators who are away from the boiler room can respond to alarms in a timeframe acceptable to the TSASK inspector for the type of boiler plant that they operate.
- Boilers & Pressure Vessels
The boiler room of a Guarded Plant should be a restricted area, accessible to authorized personnel only.
- Boilers & Pressure Vessels
- When a Guarded Plant application is made for the first time, a TSASK inspector must witness the testing of all controls by a third party company.
- The audit of a Guarded Plant performed by a TSASK inspector is subject to invoicing. A minimum of 2 hours will be charged to the owner, plus all reasonable travel, meal, and accommodation expenses.
- Upon approval of the Guarded Plant application, the owner will be issued a Certificate of Registration/Guarded Plant Licence.