Piping – Alberta

Last updated Mar 21 2018 SMM
This flowchart is an approximate combination of information collected from the following sources: Safety Codes Act 49,Safety Codes Act Flow Chart Effective July 2014, not specifically referenced below, Pressure Equipment Exemption Order,Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation and Questions regarding piping systems less than 500 Litres and registration requirements

Safety Codes Act

Safety Codes Act 49/2000 Revised Statutes of Alberta 2000 Chapter S-1 Current as of December 1, 2017 [SCA]

1(1)(y) “pressure equipment” means a thermal liquid heating system and any containment for an expansible fluid under pressure, including, but not limited to, fittings, boilers, pressure vessels and pressure piping systems, as defined in the regulations;

1(1)(cc) “thermal liquid heating system” means one or more thermal liquid heaters in which a thermal liquid that is not pressurized by the application of a heat source is used as the heat transfer medium and includes any connected piping system or vessel;

Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation

Alberta Regulation 49/2006 With amendments up to and including Alberta Regulation 218/2013 [PESR]

Definitions for the PESR and PEEO:

1(l) “expansible fluid” means (i) a vapour or gaseous fluid, or (ii) a liquid under pressure and at a temperature at which the liquid changes to a gas or vapour when the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure or when the temperature is increased to ambient temperature;

1(n) “fitting” means a valve, gauge, regulating or controlling device, flange, pipe fitting or any other appurtenance that is attached to, or forms part of, a boiler, pressure vessel, fired-heater pressure coil, thermal liquid heating system or pressure piping system;

1(o) “heating plant” means (i) a boiler in which steam or other vapour can be generated at a pressure not exceeding 103 kilopascals and a temperature not exceeding 121 degrees Celsius, (ii) a boiler in which liquid can be heated to a pressure not exceeding 1100 kilopascals and a temperature not exceeding 121 degrees Celsius at or near the outlet of the boiler, or (iii) a system or arrangement of boilers described in subclause (i) or (ii), and the pressure vessels, pressure piping systems and fittings used in connection with one or more of the boilers;

1(y) “power plant” means (i) a boiler in which steam or other vapour can be generated at a pressure exceeding 103 kilopascals or a temperature exceeding 121 degrees Celsius, (ii) a boiler in which liquid can be heated to a pressure exceeding 1100 kilopascals or a temperature exceeding 121 degrees Celsius, or both, or (iii) a system or arrangement of boilers described in subclause (i) or (ii), and the pressure vessels, pressure piping systems and fittings used in connection with one or more of the boilers;

1(aa) “pressure piping system” means pipes, tubes, conduits, fittings, gaskets, bolting and other components that make up a system for the conveyance of an expansible fluid under pressure and may also control the flow of that fluid;

1(bb) “pressure plant” means a pressure vessel or a system or arrangement of pressure vessels and the pressure piping system used in connection with the pressure vessel or the system or arrangement of pressure vessels;

Exemptions:

3 This Regulation does not apply to the following: (a) gas piping that is used to convey gas exclusively for fuel purposes and that is subject to the Gas Code Regulation (AR 111/2010); (b) a piping system that is subject to the CSA Standard Z7396.1, Medical Gas Pipeline Systems – Part 1: Pipelines for Medical Gases and Vacuum; (c) a pressure piping system and the machinery and equipment ancillary to the pressure piping system, if the machinery and equipment (i) vaporize, compress and liquefy refrigerants in the refrigerating cycle, and (ii) have a refrigerating capacity not exceeding 10.5 kilowatts; (d) gas filled electrical switchgear or control gear.

4 Partial exemption: (1) In this section, “DN” means a dimensionless designator used in the SI (metric) system to describe pipe size. (2) Pressure piping (a) that does not exceed DN 50, (b) that has a maximum allowable working pressure not exceeding 1035 kilopascals, (c) that has a design temperature between minus 29 degrees Celsius and 186 degrees Celsius, (d) that contains air, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, steam or hot water, and (e) that is constructed to the applicable ASME Code, is exempt from all the other requirements of this Regulation except section 35.[Unsafe condition, accident or fire]

14 Pressure equipment design registration: (6) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the following are exempt from the requirement to have the design registered by the Administrator: (a) a pressure piping system having an aggregate internal volume not exceeding 500 litres; [Important note: the 0.5m^3 volume is the complete system volume, not the volume of one skid attached to the system!]

Pressure Equipment Exemption Order

Alberta Regulation 56/2006 [PEEO].

2(1) Exemptions: The Safety Codes Act and the Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation [PESR] do not apply to the following:

(e) a pipeline, as defined in the Pipeline Act, except for a boiler, pressure vessel, pressure plant, power plant or heating plant that forms the whole or any part of an installation, as defined in the Pipeline Act;

2(2) The Pressure Equipment Safety Regulation [PESR] does not apply to the following:

(d) a pressure vessel or pressure piping system that (i) is fully vented or operating with one or more pressure relief devices with set pressure not exceeding 103 kilopascals and sized so that the operating pressure cannot exceed 103 kilopascals, (ii) is not a blow-off vessel for a boiler that forms part of a power plant, and (iii) does not have a differential pressure on the pressure boundary exceeding 103 kilopascals;

(i) a pressure piping system that forms part of a heating plant;

(k) a pressure plant that has one or more pressure vessels and the total volume of all the vessels does not exceed 42.5 litres;

(n) pressure equipment, other than boilers, with a volume not exceeding 42.5 litres that (i) is the subject of a research experiment in a research facility, or (ii) is part of a temporary apparatus being used in a research experiment in a research facility;

(o) non-circulating thermal liquid heating systems.

Piping Systems Less Than 500 Litres

Questions regarding piping systems less than 500 Litres and registration requirements ABSA, retrieved Apr 2 2014.

One area of considerable confusion is the 500 litre exemption. This is an exemption from registration, not from following the Alberta rules. In theory, if two less than 500 litre skids were combined to create a larger piping system, all the documentation would be available to create a registered piping system if required. Reading this web page is recommended. Some simplifications of the answers given by ABSA: (1.1) The piping volume considered covers the expansible fluid only, do not include non-expansible fluid piping. (1.2) The volume calculated does not include pressure vessels. (1.4 and 1.5) The addition of less than 500 litres of new piping to an existing system registered or not does not require registration. (2.1) The 500 litre exemption does not exempt the use of registered components.

From an unknown source: if two small skids less than 500 litre registrable volume are combined in a new plant, both skids would need registration as they are now part of a larger registrable piping system. It is the volume of the overall piping system that matters, not the individual skids. In theory this registration should not be difficult because the skids would be built completely to Alberta requirements with all the required paperwork and just need registering. It is not possible to avoid registration by breaking up a piping system into a series of smaller skids.

From our experience: the 500 litre exemption does not prohibit the registration of small piping system, it just makes it optional. Customers or engineering firms often require the registration regardless.

Additional Alberta Requirements

Our sample piping system at Overpressure Protection discusses piping PRV requirements unique to Alberta.