Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Area Petroleum Operations Framework Regulations (SOR/2024-26)

Marginal note:Transportation and positioning

• 121 (1) An operator must ensure that an installation, or any part of it, is transported and positioned

  • (a) in a manner that does not compromise safety or the protection of the environment;

  • (b) in a manner that minimizes interference with and hazards to other activities in proximity to that installation;

  • (c) under the supervision of a competent third party;

  • (d) in the case of a self-elevating mobile offshore platform, with the legs of the platform secured in accordance with the rules of the classification society that issued the certificate of class required under section 140; and

  • (e) with the support of vessels that are classified in accordance with section 177.

• Marginal note:Risk assessment

  (2) Before an installation, or any part of it, is transported and positioned, the operator must ensure that the following requirements are met:

  • (a) a risk assessment must be conducted that takes into account

    • (i) personnel requirements,

    • (ii) the towing vessels that will be used, the towing plan, including towing arrangements, and the operating limits of the towing equipment’s components,

    • (iii) the processes and control measures to be implemented to ensure safety and the protection of the environment,

    • (iv) physical and environmental conditions and the ability to reliably forecast those conditions, and

    • (v) any contingency measures to be taken in the event of adverse physical and environmental conditions or the occurrence of any other foreseeable adverse event during transportation and positioning; and

  • (b) a transportation and positioning plan must be prepared that takes into account any requirements of the competent third party referred to in paragraph (1)(c) and, if the installation is a floating platform, the plan must be prepared in accordance with the rules of the classification society that issued the certificate of class required under section 140.

Systems and Equipment: Design, Installation, Commission and Other Requirements

Marginal note:Electrical system

• 122 (1) An operator must ensure that any electrical system on an installation is designed to avoid any abnormal conditions and faults that may endanger the installation or, if it is not possible to avoid them, to provide alerts of those conditions and faults and mitigate their effects.

• Marginal note:Safety and reliability

  (2) The operator must ensure that all electric motors, lighting fixtures, electrical wiring and other electrical equipment on an installation are safe and reliable under all foreseeable operating conditions.

• Marginal note:Device for monitoring insulation level to earth

  (3) If a primary or secondary distribution system for electrical power, heating or lighting with no connection to earth is used on an installation, the operator must ensure that the system is equipped with a device that continuously monitors the insulation level to earth and produces an audible or visual alarm to indicate abnormally low insulation values.

• Marginal note:Main electrical power supply

  (4) The operator must ensure that the main electrical power supply on, or to, an installation

  • (a) ensures continuous availability of power generation and distribution;

  • (b) includes at least two power plants or other power supply sources, not including emergency power plants;

  • (c) is capable of supporting all normal operations without recourse to the emergency electrical power supply required under subsection 126(1); and

  • (d) is capable of supporting all operations, other than drilling and production, if one of the power plants is out of operation.

• Marginal note:Primary circuit shutdown

  (5) The operator must ensure that the primary circuits from a power plant serving an installation are capable of being shut down from at least two separate locations, one of which must be the site of the power plant.

Marginal note:Control system

• 123 (1) An operator must ensure that a control system is designed in accordance with the measures referred to in clauses 9(2)(b)(v)(D) and 10(2)(b)(v)(D) that are described in the operator’s safety plan and environmental protection plan, respectively.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (2) The operator must ensure that the control system is designed to meet the following requirements, taking into account human factors:

  • (a) controlled equipment must not be capable of being inadvertently activated;

  • (b) controlled equipment must not create a safety or environmental hazard in the event of system failure or shutdown;

  • (c) the system must have basic diagnostic capability; and

  • (d) the system must be capable of being operated simultaneously from multiple control stations without compromising safety.

• Marginal note:Protection of hardware

  (3) The operator must ensure that control system hardware is protected from circumstances, including excessive vibration, high electromagnetic field levels, electrical power disturbances and extreme temperatures or humidity levels or other physical and environmental conditions, that could cause mechanical damage to or degradation of the hardware or that could otherwise adversely affect the performance of the system.

• Marginal note:Wireless remote control system

  (4) The operator must ensure that any wireless remote control system includes

  • (a) a means for error checking to prevent the controlled equipment from responding to corrupt data; and

  • (b) a means for identification coding to prevent a transmitter other than the designated transmitter from operating the equipment.

• Marginal note:Alternative means of control

  (5) The operator must ensure that all control system functions that are required to ensure safety and are dependent on wireless communication links have an alternative means of control that can be activated without delay and without modification to the control system.

• Marginal note:Inspection and testing

  (6) Equipment that is to be operated by a new, repaired or modified control system must not be put into operation until the operator ensures that the control system has been inspected and tested to confirm that it functions as intended.

• Marginal note:Documentation

  (7) The operator must ensure that documentation containing an up-to-date description of the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the control systems is readily accessible for consultation and examination.

Marginal note:Integrated software-dependent control system

• 124 (1) An operator must ensure that an integrated software-dependent control system whose failure or malfunction would cause a hazard to safety or the environment is maintained to ensure its reliability, availability and security.

• Marginal note:Control measures

  (2) The operator must ensure that control measures are implemented to protect the integrated software-dependent system from any threat, including unauthorized access.

Marginal note:Safety-critical software

• 125 (1) The operator must ensure that any software that is a safety-critical element is

  • (a) secure, reliable and capable of being updated;

  • (b) designed, commissioned and updated by competent persons; and

  • (c) demonstrated to be fit for the purposes for which it is to be used through a testing and validation process that takes into account

    • (i) all foreseeable operating conditions and emergency situations, and

    • (ii) system complexity, dependencies and interactions between systems, software failure modes and the level of risk associated with system failure or malfunction.

• Marginal note:Modification to features

  (2) The operator must ensure that no modification to the features of the software is implemented unless

  • (a) the modified software has undergone the testing and validation process referred to in paragraph (1)(c); and

  • (b) the necessary internal approvals for the modification have been obtained, including the approval of the installation manager.

Marginal note:Emergency electrical power supply

• 126 (1) An operator must ensure that an installation has an emergency electrical power supply that is independent of the main electrical power supply such that the following systems and equipment continue to function in the event of a failure of the main electrical power supply:

  • (a) lights at

    • (i) all embarkation and debarkation stations and evacuation points,

    • (ii) all escape routes, temporary safe refuges, service corridors, accommodations area corridors, stairways, exits and personnel lift cars,

    • (iii) all control centres, control stations and areas from which the communication system referred to in section 129 is controlled,

    • (iv) spaces from which drilling or production equipment, including any equipment that is critical to that equipment’s operation, is controlled,

    • (v) spaces where equipment that is related to the emergency shutdown system referred to in section 133 and to the power plants referred to in paragraph 122(4)(b) is located,

    • (vi) areas where emergency response equipment is stored, and

    • (vii) aircraft landing areas and the location of any obstacle to take-off and landing;

  • (b) hazard detection systems, including the central monitoring system referred to in section 169 and the fire and gas detection system referred to in section 132;

  • (c) emergency response and life-saving systems, including life-saving appliances that require electrical power;

  • (d) the communication system referred to in section 129;

  • (e) the emergency shutdown system referred to in section 133;

  • (f) the lights and sound-signalling appliances referred to in section 127;

  • (g) in the case of a floating platform, the pumps and powered watertight doors and hatches that are necessary to stabilize the installation, having regard to the failure modes and effects analysis referred to in subsection 144(5);

  • (h) in the case of a column-stabilized mobile offshore platform, the ballast systems referred to in section 144;

  • (i) the systems and equipment that are necessary to safely suspend at any time drilling or production that is in progress, including

    • (i) blowout prevention systems, including the blowout preventer referred to in subsection 68(5),

    • (ii) any disconnectable mooring system referred to in section 148,

    • (iii) any disconnect system referred to in section 150, and

    • (iv) pumping systems; and

  • (j) any other system or equipment that requires electrical power and that is referred to in the operator’s safety plan referred to in section 9 or its contingency plan referred to in section 11.

• Marginal note:Mechanically driven generator

  (2) If the emergency electrical power supply is a mechanically driven generator, the operator must ensure that

  • (a) the installation is equipped with a transitional source of electrical power, unless the generator will automatically start and supply the necessary power in less than 45 seconds from the time the main electrical power supply fails;

  • (b) the installation is equipped with a self-contained battery system that is designed, on failure or shutdown of both the main electrical power supply and the emergency electrical power supply, to automatically supply sufficient power to operate

    • (i) for a period of at least one hour, the lights that are located in any emergency exit route, any escape route, any space where equipment incorporating an internal combustion engine, gas turbine, electric motor, generator, pump or compressor is found, any control centre and any emergency assembly room and at every launching station of life-saving appliances,

    • (ii) for a period of at least one hour, the communication system referred to in section 129 and the general alarm system referred to in section 130, and

    • (iii) for a period of at least four days, the lights and sound-signalling appliances referred to in section 127; and

  • (c) the mechanically driven generator has redundancy in its starting capabilities and a dedicated fuel source.

• Marginal note:Design and maintenance

  (3) The operator must ensure that the emergency electrical power supply together with any transitional source of electrical power and self-contained battery system with which the installation may be equipped are designed and maintained such that

  • (a) they are able to provide the systems and equipment referred to in subsection (1) with an emergency power supply of sufficient capacity, taking into account starting currents and the transitory nature of electrical loads, and sufficient duration to ensure that the systems and equipment can function as intended and to allow for effective management of the installation during an emergency, including

    • (i) to allow for the complete shutdown and evacuation of the installation,

    • (ii) to facilitate emergency response and the safe escape, refuge and evacuation of persons or to maintain the integrity of the installation,

    • (iii) to ensure sufficient power so that systems that must operate simultaneously can do so,

    • (iv) in the case of a floating platform, to maintain the flotation and stability of the platform, and

    • (v) to bring a well to a safe state and to maintain it in that state;

  • (b) their capacity to provide power to essential systems is not compromised during their maintenance;

  • (c) they have sufficient redundancy to ensure their reliability and, as far as is practicable, to ensure their functional and physical independence from other essential systems or, if that is not practicable, they are arranged so as not to adversely affect or be adversely affected by the operation of those systems; and

  • (d) they are readily accessible.

• Marginal note:Protection from damage

  (4) The operator must ensure that the emergency electrical power supply, transitional source of electrical power and self-contained battery system referred to in subsection (3) are arranged — or are otherwise protected from mechanical damage and damage caused by fire, explosion and physical and environmental conditions to which they may be exposed — so that they remain capable of fulfilling their intended functions under all foreseeable operating conditions, including, in the case of a floating platform, under the static and dynamic angles of inclination referred to in subsection 136(7).

• Marginal note:Alert

  (5) The operator must ensure that, in the event of a failure of the main electrical power supply, all control centres are alerted by means of an audible and visual signal that the installation is being powered by the emergency electrical power supply.

Marginal note:Lights and sound-signalling appliances

127 An operator must ensure that an installation is equipped with the lights and sound-signalling appliances that are required by the Collision Regulations as if that installation were a Canadian vessel to which those Regulations apply, unless compliance with the height and distance requirements of those Regulations is not possible, in which case the lights and appliances must be installed to maximize their audible and visual alerting capabilities for collision avoidance.

Marginal note:Radar

128 An operator must ensure that an installation other than an unattended installation is equipped with radar for identifying hazards in proximity to the installation and that the radar is continuously monitored.

Marginal note:Communication system

• 129 (1) An operator must ensure that an installation is equipped with a communication system that has built-in redundancy and is capable of communicating continuously, including in an emergency, with

  • (a) external emergency response teams;

  • (b) all persons, individually or collectively, at an operations site;

  • (c) all persons who are in transit to or from an operations site;

  • (d) all support craft;

  • (e) all onshore support centres;

  • (f) nearby vessels and aircraft; and

  • (g) nearby installations.

• Marginal note:Radiocommunication system

  (2) An operator must ensure that an installation other than an unattended installation is equipped with a radiocommunication system in respect of which the following requirements are met:

  • (a) the system must comply with Part 2 of the Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 as if the installation were a Canadian vessel to which those Regulations apply;

  • (b) a technical acceptance certificate must have been issued in respect of the system under the Radiocommunication Act; and

  • (c) a continuous listening watch and radio log must be maintained.

• Marginal note:Radiocommunication system — unattended installation

  (3) An operator must ensure that any radiocommunication system on an unattended installation meets the requirements referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) and (b).