The President of the Russian Federation has signed Federal Law No. 94‑FZ of April 9, 2026 "On amending the Federal Law "On Industrial Safety of Hazardous Production Facilities", the draft of which was developed by Rostechnadzor.
The Law establishes new legal foundations for conducting readiness inspections for welding operations at hazardous production facilities (HPFs). These inspections will be required for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, as well as for personnel performing welding operations. Responsible employees will be required to undergo an independent assessment of their qualifications to ensure compliance with professional standards.
The Law also defines the subject of the inspection and regulates the procedures for verifying the readiness of welders to perform work using the declared methods, as well as the readiness of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs to perform welding operations using the declared technology. The inspections may be carried out by certification centers that are members of self-regulatory organizations meeting the new requirements.
According to the adopted amendments to Federal Law No. 116‑FZ of July 21, 1997, Rostechnadzor is granted new powers, including conducting documentary and on‑site compliance assessments for non‑profit organizations seeking to obtain the status of a self‑regulatory organization in the field of welding production readiness verification, maintaining the register of self‑regulatory organizations, exercising federal state supervision over their activities, terminating their status in the event of failure to comply with orders to eliminate gross violations, and approving a number of regulatory legal acts concerning the verification of readiness to perform welding operations at HPFs, including the rules for readiness verification, the methodology for calculating the cost of services, and so on.
Special requirements are introduced for the information systems of self‑regulatory organizations, including photo‑documentation of practical tests, and for information exchange with the Rostechnadzor Digital Platform.
Federal Law No. 94‑FZ of April 9, 2026 shall enter into force on March 1, 2027. Documents in the field of welding operations issued in accordance with established procedures before that date shall remain valid until the expiration of their validity period.