TSSA G3 codes, acts and regulations practice questions (Module 4).

Five free practice questions on codes, acts and regulations: module 4 of the nine modules of Ontario's Gas Technician 3 (G3) certificate exam, which TSSA runs. The exam is all multiple choice; these have four options and one correct answer, as every question in our bank does. Answer each one before opening the explanation. No account, no email.

01The questions

1. Procedural · 'Approved' in Ontario: the label or symbol of a designated testing organization or the director

   A homeowner's insurer asks the G.2 who replaced her furnace to confirm that the installation is 'approved' within the meaning of O. Reg. 212/01. For an installation, as opposed to the furnace itself, what does approved mean?

   1. It complies with O. Reg. 212/01, including the code adopted under it
   2. A TSSA inspector has examined the installation and accepted it
   3. The gas distributor has examined it before the furnace was first used
   4. The new furnace bears a designated testing organization's label
   Show the answer

   A. Correct. O. Reg. 212/01 s. 1 gives 'approved' three meanings: for a standard, that it is on TSSA's published list; for an appliance or component, that it bears a designated organization's or a director-authorized label; and for an installation or work, that it complies with the regulation. That compliance takes in the Gaseous Fuels CAD and the B149.1-25 code it adopts, which form part of the regulation.

   Why not the others

   B. No inspection is part of the definition. Under s. 1 an installation is approved when it complies with the regulation; inspectors enforce compliance, but an inspector's visit is not what makes an installation approved.

   C. The distributor's examination under s. 7 applies only where premises are connected to gas for the first time, and it is a condition of first use, not the meaning of approved. For an installation, approved means that it complies with the regulation (s. 1).

   D. That is what approved means for the appliance itself (s. 1, clause (b)), and a compliant installation does need an approved furnace. For the installation, approved means that it complies with the regulation (s. 1, clause (c)).

2. Recall · Offences and penalties, including obstructing an inspector

   A G.2 working on his own account is convicted under the TSS Act of contravening O. Reg. 212/01. What is the maximum penalty he faces as an individual?

   1. A fine of up to $50 000, up to a year in jail, or both
   2. A fine of up to $1 000 000, with no term of imprisonment
   3. A fine of up to $10 000 and no term of imprisonment
   4. A fine of up to $25 000 for each day the offence continues
   Show the answer

   A. Correct. TSS Act s. 37(1.1)(a): an individual convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of not more than $50 000, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Under s. 37(4) each day a contravention continues is a separate offence.

   Why not the others

   B. $1 000 000 is the maximum fine for a body corporate under s. 37(1.1)(b). An individual faces up to $50 000, up to one year in prison, or both.

   C. $10 000 is the ceiling on an administrative penalty that an assessor may impose by order (s. 32.1(4)), which needs no conviction. On conviction an individual faces up to $50 000, a year in prison, or both.

   D. $25 000 a day is the penalty in s. 3.24(4) for TSSA's own directors, officers, employees or agents who knowingly contravene the Act. A person convicted under s. 37 faces up to $50 000, a year in prison, or both.

3. Recall · Employers' duties and contractor registration

   A G.3 employed by a contracting company skipped a required step on a job. The company says compliance is the G.3's own responsibility because he holds a certificate. Under O. Reg. 212/01 s. 11, what is the employer's duty?

   1. None; each certificate holder answers alone for the work he does
   2. Instruct employees to comply and take reasonable precautions so they do
   3. Only to make sure each employee holds a valid certificate for the work
   4. Only to provide a supervising certificate holder wherever a G.3 is working
   Show the answer

   B. Correct. O. Reg. 212/01 s. 11(1) requires anyone who installs, services or repairs appliances to instruct employees to comply with the Act and regulation, and s. 11(2) requires an employer to take every reasonable precaution to ensure they comply. TSS Act s. 41 puts the same duty on contractors and employers.

   Why not the others

   A. Holding a certificate makes the G.3 responsible for his own compliance too, but it does not remove the employer's duty under s. 11 to instruct employees and take every reasonable precaution that they comply.

   C. Employing certificate holders is necessary but not enough: s. 11 also requires instructing employees to comply and taking every reasonable precaution to ensure they do.

   D. Supervision of a G.3 is set by O. Reg. 215/01 s. 22. The employer's duty in O. Reg. 212/01 s. 11 is wider: instruct every employee to comply and take every reasonable precaution that they do.

4. Recall · The four G.3 functions under general supervision, the documented sign-off, and no initial activation

   A G.3 has been signed off on all four functions that O. Reg. 215/01 allows under general supervision. Which task may he do while his supervising G.2 is at another job?

   1. Install and test a new 3 in. gas header in a boiler room
   2. Replace a furnace's faulty combination gas control
   3. Replace a corroded vent connector on a water heater
   4. Light a newly converted dryer for the first time
   Show the answer

   C. Correct. Cleaning, removing or replacing a vent connector, venting or a draft control device is the fourth function in O. Reg. 215/01 s. 22(1), which a signed-off G.3 may do under general supervision, within the supervisor's scope.

   Why not the others

   A. The piping function in s. 22(1) covers piping or tubing less than 2-1/2 in. in diameter. A 3 in. header is outside it, so a G.3 may install it only under direct supervision and only within the supervisor's scope (s. 22(4)).

   B. Replacing an appliance control is servicing the appliance, which is not one of the four general-supervision functions. A G.3 may do it only under direct supervision (s. 22(4)).

   D. Lighting a newly converted appliance for the first time is an initial activation, which s. 22(2) bars a G.3 from doing under any supervision.

5. Procedural · Certified installation instructions and the code: the more stringent prevails

   The certified installation instructions for a new furnace call for a larger service clearance in front of it than B149.1-25 requires for that spot. Which governs the installation in Ontario?

   1. The instructions' clearance, but only once the director approves it
   2. The instructions' larger clearance, the more stringent rule
   3. The code's clearance, unless the director approves otherwise
   4. The code's clearance, as instructions are only guidance
   Show the answer

   B. Correct. Ontario's amendment to B149.1-25 says that where the certified installation instructions and the code conflict, the more stringent of the two prevails. Here that is the instructions' larger clearance.

   Why not the others

   A. No approval is needed to follow the more stringent requirement: Ontario's amendment settles the conflict itself, so the instructions' larger clearance governs as it stands.

   C. That is the rule Ontario wrote for B149.2-25, the propane storage and handling code, in FS-281-26. For B149.1-25 installations the Gaseous Fuels CAD makes the more stringent of the code and the certified instructions prevail.

   D. Certified installation instructions are not mere guidance in Ontario: the CAD weighs them against B149.1-25 and the more stringent prevails, which here is the instructions' larger clearance.

02Answer key

03What module 4 covers

The laws and codes behind gas work in Ontario: the agencies that regulate it and approve equipment, the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000, O. Reg. 212/01 (Gaseous Fuels) and its rules on approval, installing, first use, accidents and unacceptable conditions, O. Reg. 215/01 (Fuel Industry Certificates) and what a G.3 may do under direct and general supervision, the Gaseous Fuels Code Adoption Document and its Ontario amendments, finding a requirement in CSA B149.1, CSA B149.2 and O. Reg. 211/01 for propane, and the G.3 practical sign-off and the steps up to G.2 and G.1.

TSSA names module 4 “Installation Codes, Acts and Regulations”. It gives its G3 curriculum only to accredited training providers, so the eight objectives below are TicketPrep's own, built from public sources such as college course outlines and Ontario's regulations, not TSSA's. TSSA does not publish the G3 question count or how many exam questions come from each module: its prep guide gives no G3 count and no per-module count, and candidates who fail get a mastery report broken down by module. The right-hand column is how many questions our bank holds on each objective, Standard and Advanced together, not a count from the exam.

04What the questions turn on

Approved means a label to a listed standard

Under O. Reg. 212/01 an appliance is approved when it carries the label of a designated testing organization, and every organization the Standards Council of Canada accredits is designated, not only CSA Group. The label must also certify the appliance to a standard on TSSA's list; a label to some other standard does not make it approved.

Immediate hazard or not

A certificate holder who finds an immediate hazard shuts off the gas at once, gives notices to the distributor and the user and puts a notice on the appliance. The written notice to the distributor is due within 14 days of finding the condition, whenever the repair is made. A condition that is unacceptable but not an immediate hazard gets the notices without a shut-off. These duties fall on the holder who finds the condition, a G.3 included.

What a G.3 may do, and under whom

Under direct supervision, with the supervisor on site and close by, a G.3 may do any work within the supervisor's scope, and no sign-off is needed. Working while the supervisor is away needs the sign-off on the director's form and covers only the four listed functions, within the supervisor's own scope. No form of supervision lets a G.3 light a new or newly converted appliance for the first time.

Which document holds the rule

In a conflict, O. Reg. 212/01 prevails over the Code Adoption Document, and the CAD over the printed B149.1 text. Ontario's amendments also settle conflicts with manufacturers' instructions: for B149.1-25 the more stringent of the code and the certified instructions prevails, while for B149.2-25 the code prevails unless the authority having jurisdiction approves otherwise. Clause numbers belong to an edition, so a rule is read where the amendment in force places it.

05The other modules

The G3 exam covers nine modules, 1 to 9. Each has its own page of free questions:

The TSSA G3 practice test page describes the full question bank. How these questions are written and checked: how our questions are made. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.