The following questions concerning operator certification and facility classification are from certified operators and non operators. If you have a question concerning certification and facility classification, please contact the EOCP office.

Who is "in charge" when the senior operator is not on-site?

The basic premise of the certification system is that each facility should have at least one operator certified at the level equivalent to the classification of the facility and that individual is usually presumed to be "in charge" when he/she is on-site.  If he/she is physically off-site but reachable by phone and able to return to the site in a reasonable period of time he/she is usually deemed to be still in charge.  He/she still has responsibility for the facility and should not be absent from the site unless he/she is confident that nothing is likely to go wrong in their absence or that the person or persons still on-site are capable of handling correctly whatever might happen.

If something untoward happens, those not in charge would be expected to contact the operator in charge and take instruction from him/her and/or wait for him/her to return to site if the remedy can or should wait. 

If the operator who is normally in charge is unable to return to site within a reasonable period of time by virtue of sickness, holiday, course attendance, or simply, he/she doesn't work weekends but somebody must, then that somebody is in charge and must be certified not more than one Level below the Class of the facility.

Why do people attending a training course need to apply two weeks beforehand to the EOCP to write the exam; and why can't they just apply at the course and write the exam?

The certification examination is not a course completion exam. If there is a training course requirement for a particular category (such as Small Systems) it is “an approved training course” not any particular training course.

Eligibility to write a certification examination is based primarily on hands-on experience; this combined with high school, post secondary education, training courses, and supervision (Direct Responsible Charge) experience determines whether an individual is qualified to write any particular examination. It is the EOCP policy that the individual must be qualified in all other ways before they may write the exam and it takes time for the EOCP office staff to confirm all aspects of each application.

In many cases, people take training courses who are just getting started in the field and are not yet eligible to be certified or work in a related capacity such as a supervisor, government regulator, or consultant who have no hands-on experience but have a reason to gain the knowledge from the course.

I work in construction of water systems; how can I get certified as a water distribution operator?

Construction of water systems is only one of many tasks a water distribution operator may do. There is also checking of flows, collection of samples, hydrant maintenance, stopping and starting of pumps, maintaining operating logs, recording meter readings, and many more.

If all you do is construction you cannot be certified as an operator since you have no experience in the other activities as an operator and hands-on experience is the most important criteria for certification of operators. The EOCP does not certify construction workers, just as we don’t certify electricians or carpenters who work on water systems

If on the other hand you work as an operator or have worked in the recent past as an operator the work you do on water system construction may be considered operational experience.

I think it would be beneficial to operators to be able to write an exam that they do not qualify for because of a lack of CEU’s or DRC just for practice. By doing the exam beforehand (with the related course) would set the operator at ease, or let him or her know what area to continue studying. Both the EOCP and the BCWWA would benefit from the operator paying for the course and exam twice.

Operator certification exams are based on three components: education, experience and examination. The EOCP like other Canadian operator certification programs, require operators to fulfill all three components before qualifying for certification. Allowing an operator to write an exam before he or she is qualified because of lack of education or experience lessens the credibility of the certification.

There are ways to assist the operator prepare for an exam. There are “Need to Know Criteria” documents available online from the Association of Boards of Certification www.abccert.org that provides operators with areas of study for exams. There are practice sample question books available from the AWWA and WEF. Check their websites and look for publications.

Exam fees that an operator (or employer) pays to the EOCP covers the EOCP’s expense for that exam. The EOCP does not profit from exam fees. Exam fees cover costs paid to ABC, exam invigilators, staff time and exam rooms. Also, if an operator writes an exam and fails; he or she can rewrite the exam after 60 days.

With respect to operation of a water system, what do you mean by supervision?

The question goes to the fundamentals of how a water utility is operated. One or more senior, qualified/certified persons are in charge of each major component and they utilize lesser qualified personnel who are effectively involved in a training program to undertake the necessary duties. All personnel start out with no certification, and if they do not obtain certification within a mutually agreed upon time, they should no longer be involved in water operations. A non-certified individual, working under the direction of a certified operator is in effect an Operator In Training, regardless if they have been designated so after passing an exam.

A medium or large municipality has too big a water distribution system to be able to have a fully certified operator at every job site. However, the senior operator is responsible for whatever happens on each site. It is up to him/her to assign staff such that no one is left to do things that they are not capable of doing correctly and with the clear instruction to call for assistance if there is any doubt. He/she must be available immediately by radio or phone and able to respond to the site immediately. If he/she is not at work, someone with a certificate not more than one level below the classification of the system must be available to make necessary decisions and be responsible for actions or inactions without being physically on-site for each activity.

The DRC (Direct Responsible Charge) operator can and must exercise supervision of anyone doing something to the water system that could result in a degradation of water quality or loss/damage to the physical asset whether or not they are certified or working on the system because of "specialist knowledge".