All provinces and territories · Editable Word template

Mechanical, plumbing and HVAC safety manual template

A complete written health and safety program for plumbing, gas fitting, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal, pipefitting and sprinkler fitting contractors doing new construction, service and maintenance, wherever in Canada the job is. It is laid out on the 14 national COR elements and written for the work: brazing, soldering and welding with a fire watch, natural gas and propane, carbon monoxide and venting, refrigerants including flammable ones, compressed gas cylinders, pressure testing, lockout on mechanical equipment, electrical safety on units, crawlspaces and vaults, rooftop units, ladders and lifts, lifting pipe and duct, sheet metal, threading and press tools, core drilling, asbestos insulation, sewage, steam and service calls in customers’ homes. Section 15 sets out the law of every province and territory, and federal workplaces, side by side, with who licenses gas fitters and pressure equipment, refrigerant certification, compulsory trades, hot work and asbestos rules. It arrives as an editable Word file you make your own.

A look inside

Sample pages from the manual, marked and cut short. Your copy has no watermark.

Cover with room for your logo and company name

Linked table of contents, laid out on the 14 national COR elements plus a section on working across Canada

Section 3: twenty safe work practices written for mechanical, plumbing and HVAC trades, hot work shown

Section 15: who licenses gas and refrigeration work, compulsory trades and refrigerant rules in each jurisdiction

Appendix A: all 74 documentation questions of the national COR elements mapped

Print-ready permits and forms: the hot work permit and fire watch record shown

What’s in the manual

1. Safety and health policy

A signed, dated policy, the written program, and responsibilities for management, foremen, plumbers, gas fitters, refrigeration mechanics, sheet metal workers, pipefitters, service technicians and apprentices.

2. Hazard assessment, analysis and control

Formal hazard assessments by type of mechanical work, the 5 × 5 risk matrix, a critical task inventory, and the service call and job hazard assessment.

3. Safe work practices

Twenty practices for the trades: permits and occupied buildings, hot work, gas and propane, carbon monoxide, refrigerants, cylinders, pressure testing, lockout, electrical on equipment, confined spaces, rooftop units, ladders and lifts, lifting, sheet metal, power tools, core drilling, asbestos, sewage, steam and service calls.

4. Safe job procedures

Step-by-step procedures for purging and lighting a gas appliance, recovering refrigerant, brazing in an occupied building, a pneumatic pressure test, locking out a rooftop unit, entering a crawlspace or vault, clearing a sewer blockage and a gas leak or CO alarm on a service call.

5. Company safety rules

Life-saving rules for the trades (a permit and fire watch for hot work, every energy source on a unit locked out, never vent refrigerant, test the air before you enter), and a progressive discipline process applied the same way every time.

6. Personal protective equipment

Eye and face protection for brazing and refrigerants, cold and chemical gloves, respirators, fall protection on roofs, and the rest of the basic PPE.

7. Preventative maintenance program

Gas and combustion analyzers and their calibration, torches, regulators and cylinders, recovery machines, test pumps and gauges, drain machines and vehicles.

8. Training and communication

Gas and refrigerant certificates where the law requires them, hot work and fire watch, lockout, confined space entry, and apprentice supervision.

9. Inspections

Site inspections, tools and analyzers checked before use, and service vans inspected.

10. Investigations and reporting

Gas leaks, carbon monoxide exposures, burns, refrigerant releases, pressure test failures and near misses reported and investigated.

11. Emergency preparedness

A gas leak, a CO alarm, a fire from hot work, a refrigerant release in an enclosed space, a confined space rescue, and first aid on every crew.

12. Statistics, records and document control

Hot work permits, pressure test records, lockout records, entry permits and analyzer calibrations, kept for the longest period any jurisdiction requires.

13. Legislation

OHS law, the gas, refrigeration and boiler codes, technical safety authority licensing, halocarbon rules, trade law, and the right to refuse.

14. Procurement and contractor management

Working for builders and owners, crane and electrical subcontractors, and buying tools, refrigerants and equipment.

15. Working across Canada

Whose law applies, then every province and territory and federal workplaces side by side: the act and regulation, the regulator, who licenses gas fitting and pressure equipment, refrigerant handling, compulsory trades, hot work, asbestos, and serious incidents to report and how fast.

Appendix A. COR cross-reference

Every one of the 74 documentation questions in the 14 national COR elements, what it looks for in plain words, the section that answers it, and whether the auditor will also want your records.

Appendix B. Forms

37 print-ready forms that match the manual, each with a form code: among them the service call and job hazard assessment, hot work permit and fire watch record, pressure test record, lockout record, confined space entry permit and gas analyzer calibration log.

Written for the work, not just the province

The mechanical trades are hurt by a fire from brazing, a gas leak or carbon monoxide in a customer’s basement, a pressure test that lets go and a rooftop unit that starts up. This manual is written around them, practice by practice and procedure by procedure.

Licensing for gas fitting, refrigeration and pressure equipment comes from the technical safety authority and trade law rather than OHS law, and section 15 sets out both for every jurisdiction.

One program for every province you work in

Your crews follow the occupational health and safety law of the province or territory where the job is, not where your office is. The manual sets your company’s rules once and gathers what changes at each border into section 15, so a supervisor starting work in a new province looks up what applies there.

It is laid out on the 14 national COR elements, so it suits a COR audit wherever you certify. Each certifying partner uses its own audit tool, so check it against yours; our provincial manuals follow each province’s audit exactly. No template can guarantee a certificate on its own, and we don’t claim to.

Who it is for

Plumbing, gas fitting, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal, pipefitting and sprinkler fitting contractors, in construction and service. Fire protection service has its own manual.

A template is a starting point, not legal or engineering advice: a qualified person must adapt it to your work and the provinces you work in before you issue it.

Lifetime updates

When the law changes, we publish a new edition and email everyone who bought the template. Every update is free, for as long as we publish it.

Version 1.0 October 29, 2026
- First edition, written for mechanical, plumbing and HVAC contractors and laid out on the 14 national elements of the harmonized COR audit.
- Section 15 sets out the law and the gas, pressure equipment, refrigerant, compulsory trade, hot work and asbestos rules of every province and territory and federal workplaces, checked against the legislation in force on 29 October 2026.