Refrigeration

Design Registration

Overview

Refrigeration plants and systems that use regulated refrigerants to lower the temperatures can be found in a variety of industries, including food preservation, recreational ice facilities, condominium air-conditioning, nuclear medicine, or electronics manufacturing.

 

To Register a Design

  1. Log in to our online Design Registration Portal. See How to Register for more details on how to create an account.
  2. Select & complete the applicable webform.
  3. Review requirements for design registration.
  4. Upload and attach all supporting documentation.

All applications must be submitted through the Design Registration Portal, or they will be rejected.

Registration for refrigeration plants and systems, as defined in the Safety Standards Act and Safety Regulations, is required according to the Power Engineering Boiler Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation (PEBPVRSR Safety Regulation)and CSA B52 code. These systems are regulated by Technical Safety BC and require a design registration.

Required documentation

  1. Design assumptions used in their design’s scope of work, including at a minimum, project outcome, modification scope, and assumptions or judgments that impact the design’s scope.
  2. A reasonable form of documented analysis authenticated by a professional engineer (examples: Failure Mode Effects Analysis, Bow Tie Analysis, Hazardous Operation Analysis, or alternate form of recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices)
  3. Pressure piping submission, that meets the NPS3 requirements of the PEBPVRSR regulations and CSA B51
  4. Pipe stress analysis prepared by a professional engineer.  NPS 3 exemptions from PEBPVRSR Safety Regulation 84(3)(a) still apply
  5. P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation Diagram) of the refrigeration plant and system, including the secondary coolant system
  6. Relief discharge piping calculation in conformance to CSA B52 Annex H
  7. Reasonable form of documented summary of the amount of refrigerant amount used for the system at the point of installation and its safe operating allowable limits
  8. Machinery room emergency and code required ventilation design prepared by a professional engineer in accordance with requirements from the BC Building code and CSA B52

For more information, see the Design registration of refrigeration plants and systems information bulletin and the document requirements in the latest edition of CSA B52, Clause 5.3.2 Contents of drawings.

Secondary Coolant Overpressure Protection

Secondary coolant designs on heat exchangers and associated piping systems must include considerations on preventing over-pressurization during normal operation or failure mode scenarios.

Emergency Discharge Fire Line

For legacy refrigeration systems requiring relief system upgrades to the requirements of the latest (and future) editions of CSA B52, the emergency discharge fire line must be removed.

Legacy (Existing) Modifications of Refrigeration Systems

The impact of design changes must be assessed when modifying legacy refrigeration systems. Abridged document packages based on the modification scope can be submitted. Technical Safety BC may follow-up for additional information if the design intent is unclear.

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