CSA Z768-01 Reaffirmed in 2022 — What Reaffirmation Means

What reaffirmation actually means

Standards bodies review published standards periodically. Three outcomes are possible: revision, in which the text changes and a new edition number is issued; withdrawal, where the standard is retired; or reaffirmation, where the committee confirms the existing text remains current and appropriate.

Reaffirmation is not a formality with no consequence. It is a positive statement that a committee has examined the standard against current practice and concluded it still holds. The year appears in brackets after the edition: Z768-01 (R2022) means the 2001 edition, reaffirmed in 2022.

Why the edition number is still 01

Z768-01 is the second edition of the Phase 1 ESA standard, published in November 2001 and superseding the first edition from 1994. The "01" is the year of the edition, not the year it was last confirmed. A Phase 1 ESA conducted today under CSA methodology is conducted to the 2001 text.

Why this matters to a report you commission

Lenders and their counsel increasingly check which standard and which version a report cites. A report referencing "CSA Z768" with no edition, or citing a superseded version, invites the question of whether the assessor is current — and that question tends to arrive during a financing deadline.

Ask that the report state the standard as CSA Z768-01 (R2022). It is a small thing that signals the work was done to the version in force.

The other distinction to keep straight

A CSA-standard Phase 1 and an O. Reg. 153/04 Phase 1 are different products. The CSA standard supports due diligence, financing and liability questions across Canada. Only an assessment conducted under the Ontario regulation supports a Record of Site Condition. Commissioning the wrong one usually means redoing the work rather than amending the report.