IRATA Level 2 Expiry and Re-certification

Sharon Lo
2025-10-29T16:44:43-07:00

IRATA Level 2 technicians with expired certifications wishing to re-certify, or to upgrade to L3 - read carefully! Your process varies depending on how long your certification has been expired for!

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Do you know when your certification expires? Do you need to recertify soon, or is it already expired, or what if you want to upgrade to an L3?
Notes on Certifications

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If you fail your re-certification, your certificate is no longer valid, even if it's not expired.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 your certification's expiry date on a calendar. Set a reminder for a date six months prior to the expiration date when you will sign up for re-certification training, before your certification expires. This will save you the hassle of trying to re-certify after your certification has expired, which is a lengthy and complicated process.

Expired (by up to 6 months) Level 2:

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 training member company such as Pacific Ropes.

The process for certificates expired by up to 6 months:

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:

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 training member company before taking their L2 re-certification training.

The process for certificates expired between 6-24 months:

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 training member company.

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:

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

The process for certificates expired by more than 24 months:

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.

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 training 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 training member company first before taking their L3 course.

The process for expired L2 technicians:

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.

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 training 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 (TACS) that have occurred since the previous assessment.

The Process:

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.

Register HERE to look at upcoming dates!