Align is a culmination of strategic efforts that began in 2014 with the goal of improving and standardizing processes across the ERO Enterprise.
Beginning on October 1, 2021, MRO is utilizing Align for self-certifications. As part of the self-certification process, a noncompliance may be identified. Here are the steps you should follow to report a noncompliance on a self-certification in Align.
First, the account must have the correct permissions. The Align user must have an Align Registered Entity Submitter account access level. Primary Compliance Contact (PCC) accounts are automatically granted this access level. The PCC can grant other entity users this account access level via the ERO Portal.
Second, provide the self-certification answers to all the questions, including the requirements, parts, and subparts. Set the response to ‘Non-Compliant’ for any requirement reported as noncompliance.
Third, you must create and submit the finding. To create the finding do the following:
- Open the Findings section, as shown below, by clicking on it.
- Create the finding by clicking on the ‘+’ on the same row as the requirement to report.
- Fill out the finding.
- Press the ‘Save’ button to save a draft of the finding.
- Exit from the self-certification.
- Under ‘Self Reports and Logs,’- open the draft and submit it.
- Go back into the self-certification.
- Submit the self-certification for review.
NOTE: By creating the finding in this manner, it will be associated with the self-certification. This can be confirmed by the ‘Monitoring Method’ field which would indicate ’Self-Certification.’
Align Training videos and materials are on NERC’s training site. For additional assistance with training, please contact [email protected].
Additional information on Align, including newsletter articles on the current status of implementation, can be found on the Align Page of NERC’s website.
– Jeremy Mattke, MRO Principal Compliance Engineer, O&P