The Five Questions That Separate a Real Dive Contractor From a Guy With a Tank
By Ray Whitfield, ADCI-certified commercial dive supervisor. Reviewed by Dana Whitcombe, technical reviewer.
Commercial Diving Contractors Alabama | Commercial Diving Contractors Alaska In 2011, I did a structural inspection on a tainter gate at a Corps of Engineers dam in Missouri. The project owner had also hired a 'dive contractor' to clear debris clogging a weir. When his crew showed up, I saw a couple of scuba tanks, a used neoprene wetsuit, and a 12-foot jon boat. Water temp was 54 degrees, inflow was 2,200 cfs. I told the owner that guy wasn't getting anywhere near that gate. The project owner had also hired a 'dive contractor' to clear debris that had clogged a weir. When his crew showed up, I saw a couple of scuba tanks, a used wetsuit, and a 12-foot jon boat. The water temperature was 54 degrees, and the inflow was 2,200 cfs. I told the owner that guy wasn't going anywhere near that gate. That job is what I think about when someone asks me how to vet a diving contractor. There's a line between an actual industrial dive company and a guy with a tank. It's not always obvious on the surface. But there are specific, hard questions you can ask that will separate the two faster than a cracked mask. I've been doing this since 1995, started as a tender, worked my way up to supervisor, and I've been on enough jobsites to know what questions actually matter. Here are the five I'd put in front of any bid list. If they can't answer these straight, move on to the next one.
1. Who's Actually Going In The Water?
The name on the contract is meaningless if the diver in the water is a subcontractor nobody's heard of. Ask for the name and ADCI cert number for everyone who'll have bottom time on your site. The ADCI is the Association of Diving Contractors International. A real commercial diver will just show you the card. In fact, they'll show it before you ask. On top of that, ask about the supervisor. That person runs the dive from the surface. They're the one responsible for keeping the diver alive, and they need to be ADCI-certified as a supervisor, not just a diver. I've seen situations where a diver is out of sight in zero visibility and the only thing that brings him home is the tender and the supervisor. If those guys aren't trained, you're betting against your own project. That also means the crew isn't one guy in a wetsuit. A proper industrial crew is at least three people: a diver, a tender, and the supervisor. Sometimes a standby diver too, depending on the job. If a contractor shows up solo with a tank, that's your answer.
2. Surface-Supplied Or SCUBA?
If you hear the word 'scuba' on an industrial job site, that's a red flag. Scuba is for recreational dives, where you can move freely and surface if something goes wrong. Commercial diving uses surface-supplied air or mixed gas. You've probably seen a Kirby Morgan helmet or a band mask. That's what you'll see on a real dive operation. The reason is simple: communications and safety. With surface supply, the diver is connected to the surface by an umbilical that carries air, communications, and a strength member. If something goes wrong, the crew can pull the diver up or send down a line. With scuba, the diver only has what's on his back. That's a 10-minute problem underwater. For most jobs, we use surface air via a compressor. In contaminated water, we use full-face helmets and sometimes a dry suit. But the point is, you don't want a guy breathing off tanks he filled at a dive shop. You want a system that runs continuously and has an emergency breathing supply built in.
3. Show Me The Site-Specific Dive Plan
The dive plan is the backbone of the whole operation. It's a written document that addresses the site hazards, working depths, current, overhead obstructions, and emergency procedures. For a dam or a water intake, that means understanding the water flow, the potential for entanglement, and the lockout/tagout protocols. A real dive contractor will produce a plan for your exact location, not a generic sample. They'll have a JSA (Job Safety Analysis) that includes the specific hazards of your structure. They'll walk the site, talk to your maintenance supervisor, and ask about what's in the water. Ask to see that plan before you sign anything. If the contractor says they'll write a plan after you schedule the job, you're not the only one in the pool. I remember a job at a paper mill where the contractor didn't know the plant used caustic soda in the water. We had to inform him that he needed a full hazmat dive setup, and he'd have to add three days to the schedule. That's a site-specific item a real plan would have caught.
4. What's Your Emergency Plan?
Even a well-run dive can go sideways. A diver can get contaminated, tangled, or have a cardiac event. The question that separates the professionals from the part-timers is what happens next. Ask for their emergency action plan. That means how they get a diver out, what first aid they have on site, and — most importantly — how they get that diver to a recompression chamber. Dive insurance often requires a working chamber within a certain distance, typically two hours. But you need to know who the on-call physician is, and what the transportation setup looks like. On a job in the middle of nowhere, that might mean a helicopter on standby. On a plant site, you might have an ambulance arranged. Ask for names, not just promises. Also ask about emergency oxygen. Many dive contractors carry a large bottle of O2 and a demand mask on site. That's basic. But you'd be surprised how many yellow-vest guys don't have one.
5. What Does Your Track Record Look Like?
There's no substitute for a work history you can check. A real dive contractor can point to similar projects and give you references. More than that, ask for their OSHA 300 log, which lists recordable injuries and illnesses, and their ADCI audit status. ADCI publishes annual audit results for its members. That's not private info. Every company has a bad day, but look for patterns. If they've had three incidents in the last year, that's a pattern. If the referral is to a guy who 'knows a guy who dives,' the track record is secret. That's why a legitimate company will hand you a dossier of past work, with names and dates, before you finish your coffee. And it's not just about safety. Ask about how they documented the work on recent jobs. Underwater inspections require a lot of video, photos, and notes. You want a contractor who shows up with a clear system for recording and reporting, not a guy who says he'll 'explain it after.'
Frequently Asked Questions
I have a small tank and a half-day of dives. Do I really need an industrial dive contractor for that? If it's a job where your own diver is jumping in to check a dock or a boat propeller, you might be fine with a scuba operator. But if the work is for a facility, a dam, a bridge, or any structure where someone's life is on the line if a weld fails, you need a commercial diver with ADCI certification and a proper surface-supplied setup. How can I check if a diver is ADCI-certified? Ask to see the ADCI certification card. It's a physical card with the diver's name and certification level. You can also contact ADCI directly and ask to verify the status of a member company. What do I do if the contractor says they have insurance but can't show a certificate? Walk away. A legitimate contractor will have a certificate of liability insurance with your company named as an additional insured. That's standard. If they can't produce that in 30 minutes, they're not ready to work. Is it okay to hire a contractor who uses scuba for shallow water? No, not for any industrial job, no matter the depth. Scuba loses the communication and emergency supply lines that surface-supplied diving provides. Even in shallow water, commercial divers use surface supply when there's a chance of contamination or obstructions.