IN 1299 – ROV technician accreditation guidance

A number of individuals have contacted the IMCA secretariat over the last few months seeking clarity on their ROV technician competency and operator grade status.

Those seeking this guidance have not just been new ROV personnel but have also included senior, experienced ROV personnel at supervisor level, with many years of service in the ROV industry. Almost all have one common query, and that is to find out how they can apply for or request an IMCA certificate or ‘accreditation’ of their ROV skills, grade or position in their company. A significant proportion are seeking such accreditation after they have left their previous employer and want their experience and qualifications endorsed retrospectively.

The reason for these requests is primarily because some commercial training providers are issuing certificates with an IMCA logo on the document, suggesting that the certificate is authorised or accredited by IMCA. IMCA Members already know that a condition of membership is that the use of the IMCA logo must be in accordance with the terms and conditions of membership. Non-Members use the logo simply because they would claim to have followed the IMCA competence frameworks and guidance documents which are freely available on the IMCA website for downloading.

The secretariat has seen evidence of such documents sent into the secretariat by individuals seeking clarification on whether such documents are authorised by the Association. In addition, photographic evidence of some ROV technicians with supposedly official stamps used in logbooks with the claim that the signatory or assessor endorsing the logbook entry is an ‘IMCA Certified Supervisor No. XXXXX’, have recently been received.

This Information Note is deemed necessary to inform the ROV operating community about this issue and to formally state IMCA’s position on the accreditation of ROV technician skills, grades and qualifications. IMCA does not and never has issued ‘IMCA Certification’ or ‘IMCA Accreditation’ for any ROV technician competence listed in our competence framework, or any other company or training provider competence framework. No certificate of ROV technician competence, including but not limited to, pilots, engineers, supervisors or superintendents, should be issued with an IMCA logo on it or state that the qualifying course for which the certificate was issued is an IMCA accredited or approved course.

ROV Technicians are invited to use this information note in support of their discussions with employers if they are asked to provide such certificates.

IMCA Members can refer to the instructions regarding the use of the logo which are available on the IMCA website. Where an ROV training course was completed using relevant IMCA Guidance, IMCA training provider Members are recommended to provide a covering letter for the course certificate, stating exactly what guidance has been used during the course. As an IMCA Member, they are authorised to state that they are Members and may use the IMCA logo within their official company letter heading or stationery (but not the certificate itself).

Non-IMCA Members are not authorised to use the IMCA logo under any circumstances and may be the subject of legal action were they to be found to be doing so.