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18 July 2022

Finding the current form

1. Download the current radionuclides application forms from the Health Products tab on the SAHPRA website: www.sahpra.org.za/radiation-control-application-and-report-forms – or click here.  The document called Overview of Radionuclides (RN) application and report forms will give you the number/name of the form you need.
2. We are in the process of updating all our forms and writing the necessary guidelines and specifications. This includes changing the names/numbers of the forms in line with the naming convention used across the whole of SAHPRA. However, we will initially include both the old and the new numbers to help everyone navigate the change.  For example, the RN787 will become GLF-RDN-RN-07A, or RN-07 for short. (RDN is Radiation Control; RN is Radionuclides, as before. The letter at the end indicates the revision.)

File & authority numbers

• Many authority holders confuse file number and authority number, not least because the older authorities combined them and labelled the whole thing Authority Number. This was finally remedied in November 2021. Your file and authority number are given at the top of your current authority, annual return etc.
• The authority number has the format xx/yyyy, where the xx indicates the year of issue; the yyyy is an issue number that increments with each authority issued in the calendar year.
• The file number stays constant for the lifetime of the authority, but different file numbers have different formats. If your file number has slashes after the four-digit part, be sure to include those slashes and additional characters on all forms and in correspondence. They are an essential part of the file number. Omitting them leads to incorrect logging and wastes precious time.

Examples of file number and authority number

	File No.	Authority No.
1234/22/0125	1234	22/0125
1234/0/22/0126	1234/0	22/0126
1234/28/22/0127	1234/28	22/0127

Completing the application form

• The fields above section A on the RN787 are important. Skipping them causes delays due to incorrect logging.
• If everyone did the following two simple things, the backlog would melt away:

(a)     Refer to your existing authority when completing forms.
For RN787 (and corresponding fields on other forms) copy the information for fields A1(a) and A1(b) from your current authority. (If these need to change, send in an RN527.)
Check that the office-bearers you are entering on the form are the same as those on your existing authority. If they need to change, send in an RN785 for change of RPO and/or ARPO, or an RN786 for medical physicist(s).

(b)     Have someone else check your form before you send it in.  Let them check it against the current authority as above, and check that all signatures are present, visible and dated.
Dates older than 3 months are not accepted – update them. Check that any required documents are attached, e.g. the source list for RN785, and that the attachment matches what is stated on the form.

Complete all fields:

• Section A8 on the RN787 is often skipped. It is required. If your calibrations are out of date, give the latest calibration date as shown on the instrument calibration certificate (not just year or month) and indicate what steps you have taken to remedy the non-compliance.

There are a few exceptions:

• The complete RN787 form is required for new applications, but renewals only require section A, unless you have other changes further along the form. Do not send us the blank pages.
• For non-medical authorities you do not require medical physicists, so you can skip RN787 sections A6 and A7.
• When adding a source of a type and activity you already have, you do not need to complete the premises information unless you are adding new premises.
• Where sections are clearly irrelevant, you can omit them, e. g. the export section on a monthly report (for distributors only) if you never export.

Sending the application

• Send all forms directly to the address on the form (radionuclides@sahpra.org.za), not to any individual members of staff. They cannot deal with them until they are logged. Duplication clogs up mailboxes and delays the actual work.
• Always give the relevant file number at the beginning of the subject line. If you have received a 5-‑digit reference number for a particular request, please put that ahead of the file number. Also give an indication in the subject line as to what the application/request is about, e.g.
  13579  2468/2 Change of RPO – correction.
• You can expect an acknowledgement of receipt within three working days of submission.  If you do not receive that, feel free to check with Heather at radionuclides@sahpra.org.za or 021-015 5511. In holiday season (December/January), please allow extra time, especially as we are flooded with annual returns in January.
• Do not re-send the same items repeatedly. This clogs up our mail system and wastes precious time. All waiting applications are delayed while we try to distinguish between duplicates, new submissions, corrections etc.
• If you are concerned that an application might have been lost, please contact Heather to check. She will not be able to give timelines but can check whether the job has been (a) logged, and (b) declined, pended or completed, in case our emailed response has gone astray.
• If an application is declined, re-send the complete application, properly collated with any requested supporting documents. State in your email that it is a corrected re-send, and include the previous email thread for context.
• Do not send pieces of forms or send random supporting documents unless you are specifically requested to send only that item, e.g. an instrument calibration certificate.  The exception is the RN787: for renewals with no other changes, only section A is required. This is stated on page 1 of the form. Section A must, however, be completed in full.

If you do send supporting documents separately, ensure that the email is clearly identified with the relevant reference number and file number, and state simply why you are sending the item, e.g. On 23 May 2021 you asked me to send the calibration certificate for the survey meter. It is now attached. (That date is not essential but can be very helpful.)

1. If you were asked to resubmit your application with the supporting documents, please don’t send the supporting documents alone without the application form. All responses should include the thread of the previous communication.

Thank you.

The Radionuclides Team