What happens when your IRATA L2 certificate expires? What does it mean for your work life? For upcoming re-certification trainings? Or what if you wanted (and still want) to move up to a L3 certification?

• Once your certification expires, you are no longer allowed to practice rope access
• If you fail your re-certification, your certificate is no longer valid, even if it's not expired. In some cases, your Assessor may allow you to continue the Assessment for a lower level.
• In very rare circumstances, IRATA may withdraw your certification before the expiry date due to lack of safety, abusing your IRATA certification, and falsifying information.
• Certificates are issued to the name of the Rope Access Technician and not the employer.

Pacific Ropes Tip:

Mark an electronic calendar (in your cell, for instance) with your certification expiration date and log a date six months out to remind you to sign up for in-date (before expiry date) re-certification or new certification training. This will save you the hassle of trying to re-certify after your certification has expired. It’s a lengthy and complicated process, and you probably want to avoid it.

Technicians who have allowed their Level 2 certification to expire by between 1 day and 6 months should arrange for re-certification L2 training with an IRATA Trainer Member Company such as Pacific Ropes. 

• A minimum of 4 days Level 2 training shall be completed.
• 1 day full assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor.
• A new Level 2 certificate will be issued with an expiry date of 3 years from the date of this assessment.

Expired (by between 6 & 24 months) Level 2 wishing to be re-assessed to Level 2

Technicians who have allowed their Level 2 certification to expire by between 6 and 24 months should arrange for a 1 day refresher training with an IRATA Trainer Member Company before taking their L2 re-certification training.

• Complete a 1-day refresher training course with Pacific Ropes. This refresher training must be logged in the training section of your logbook and signed by the instructor or TMC.
• A minimum of 4 days Level 2 training shall be completed.
• 1 day full assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor.
• A new Level 2 certificate will be issued with an expiry date of 3 years from the date of this assessment.

Expired (by more than 24 months) Level 2 wishing to be re-assessed to Level 2

Technicians who have allowed their Level 2 certification to expire by more than 24 months should arrange for re-qualification at Level 1 first.

• Minimum of 4 day Level 1 course.
• 1 day assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor to Level 1. 
• Once you pass your L1, you must gain a minimum of 150 hours of logged rope access work. Guidance for this is detailed in the back of IRATA log books and also listed here.
• Once you have your 150 hours, you can proceed to taking your L2 training. A minimum of 4 days training Level 2 shall be completed with an IRATA Trainer Member Company to cover Level 2 topics.
• 1 day Level 2 full assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor. An IRATA Level 2 certificate will be issued with an expiry date 3 years from the date of successful Level 2 assessment.

Expired Level 2 wishing to upgrade to Level 3

Technicians who have allowed their Level 2 certification to expire but wish to upgrade to L3, must regain Level 2 certification with an IRATA Trainer Member Company first before taking their L3 course.

• Minimum of 4 day Level 2 course.
• 1 day assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor to Level 2.
• Once you pass your L2 assessment, you must gain a minimum of 150 logged hours since L2 re-certification. Guidance for logging hours is detailed in the back of IRATA log books and also listed here.
• Once you have your 150 hours, you can proceed to taking your L3 training. A minimum of 4 days Level 3 training shall be completed.
• 1 day assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor to Level 3. An IRATA Level 3 certificate will be issued with an expiry date 3 years from the date of successful Level 3 assessment.

In-date Level 2 to be re-assessed to a Level 2

Technicians who have an in-date Level 2 certificate should arrange for re-certification training with an IRATA Trainer Member Company. The training should be sufficient to refresh all previously assessed techniques and theory and must cover any changes to the Technician Assessment and Certification Scheme that have occurred since the previous assessment.

• Minimum of 4 day Level 2 course.
• 1 day assessment by an independent IRATA Assessor. If re-training and successful Level 2 assessment are completed in the 6 month period prior to the expiry of a current certificate, a new Level 2 certificate will be issued with an expiry date 3 years from the date of expiry on the previous certificate.

Planned Expiry

Technicians wishing to re-validate or upgrade who anticipate expiry of their certification due to medical or personal reasons can, prior to expiry, contact us at Pacific Ropes. We will document the reasons for the planned expiry and ensure there are suitable grounds for in date certification to be delayed by liaising with IRATA head office on your behalf. 

Do you have any questions regarding this process? Don't hesitate to call Pacific Ropes @ 604-447-8055

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