A missing Virginia boiler certificate, an incorrect owner name and an expiring certificate call for different records. Start with the VA number marked on the specific boiler or pressure vessel. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) issues an inspection certificate after reviewing a satisfactory inspection report. For a qualifying unfired vessel inspected by an authorized owner-user agency, the key record may instead be a signed report kept at the establishment. Identify which route applies before treating an absent certificate as an absent inspection.
Match the unit and choose the record
One building can have multiple units or a replacement with a different VA number. Compare that number, equipment description, owner or user, site and dates across any certificate and report you have. An address alone may not distinguish them. The DOLI boiler program identifies insurance, contract-fee and qualified owner-user inspectors; DOLI says it does not conduct routine inspections itself.
- Certificate and report: Request the certificate for the VA number and its corresponding dated inspection report. The report records an inspection; 16VAC25-50-150 sets a separate certificate-issuance step.
- Incorrect owner or user: The owner/user should give corrected information to the original inspector. DOLI says that inspector changes the information and alerts the state if a corrected certificate is needed. A researcher should request an existing record rather than submit someone else’s correction.
- Missing copy: Ask DOLI for a duplicate using the VA number marked on the vessel. Say whether you need an unchanged duplicate or a corrected certificate.
Local property work has a separate city or county permit custodian. The published state instructions do not establish a public statewide address or parcel search, an online start year or complete online coverage for individual certificates. An empty online result does not prove that no permit exists. Check the unit’s certificate and inspection trail with the actual custodian. A boiler certificate also answers a different question from the building permit’s final-inspection status.
Trace an expiring certificate
DOLI’s extension instructions describe a 60-day renewal grace period. A further extension of up to three months calls for the VA number, expiration date, requested date and an external inspection report indicating the inspector’s agreement. The regulation places that further extension with the chief inspector, subject to a satisfactory external inspection and fee. The request is not the decision.
For the period in question, collect the expiring certificate, dated external report and recorded extension or renewal for the same VA number. Ask which document established the status on the date you need. A later certificate should not be carried backward to fill an earlier gap; the grace period is not itself a new certificate date.
Identify the narrow owner-user exception
Under 16VAC25-50-150(F), certificates are not required for unfired pressure vessels inspected by an authorized owner-user inspection agency. That agency must keep a true record or copy of the latest inspection report, signed by its inspector, in its office at the establishment where the equipment is located. This exception does not cover every pressure vessel or a boiler simply because a company owns it.
Ask the operator whether this exact vessel was inspected under an authorized owner-user program. If so, request the latest signed report from the agency office at the establishment, matching the unit identifier and date. If the classification or agency status is unclear, ask DOLI which route applies. The onsite-copy rule does not create a public portal or establish that DOLI holds the private agency’s report.
Request the missing file from its custodian
For a missing state certificate or unclear DOLI record, contact the boiler program at BoilerPayments@doli.virginia.gov or (804) 786-3160. Send a short file key:
- VA number, equipment type, site and the owner/user shown on the record, if known.
- The document needed: certificate, inspection report, corrected copy, extension decision or registration entry.
- Relevant inspection and expiration dates, and inspector or insurer if known.
- A request for the correct custodian or missing identifier if DOLI cannot locate it.
For existing DOLI-held records, the department’s FOIA instructions list FOIA@doli.virginia.gov and ask for reasonably specific records. Access depends on the record and applicable disclosure rules; an active inspection file may be withheld until resolved. DOLI’s process cannot create a report or supply an owner-user agency’s onsite copy if DOLI does not hold it. Ask the identified inspector, insurer or owner-user agency for the record it actually maintains.
In a hypothetical shared building, one boiler certificate names a former owner and expires soon, while a neighboring unfired vessel uses an authorized owner-user inspection agency. The boiler owner/user routes the correction through the original inspector and keeps any external report with the recorded extension decision. The vessel’s latest signed report is requested from the owner-user agency onsite. Matching each document to its own VA number prevents one unit’s record from being assigned to the other.
Minnesota publishes a statewide boiler data file and a login-only certificate. Our guide to Minnesota boiler certificates and inspection lag covers that system.
Official sources checked September 29, 2026.