TM-035: The Diving Regulation for Professional Divers, Explained

What the TM-035 is, and why you'll run into it sooner or later

If you've searched for anything about getting a professional diver's licence in Chile, at some point a long PDF will turn up, formatted like a naval regulation, hosted on DIRECTEMAR's website. That document is the TM-035, the Diving Regulation for Professional Divers. It is issued by the Dirección General del Territorio Marítimo y de Marina Mercante (DIRECTEMAR), which comes under the Chilean Navy, and it is the rule that governs the whole system of licences, categories and exams you'll have to pass if you want to dive professionally in this country.

The problem isn't finding it: it's public. The problem is reading it. It's a regulatory text, written for inspectors and port captains, not for a 20-year-old who wants to know whether the basic shellfish diver (buzo mariscador) course lets them work in a salmon cage at 15 metres, or whether they need to move up a category. This post is the map: what the TM-035 actually says, how it's organised, who enforces it and — this is the important part — what the regulation does not say, even though half the internet acts as if it does.

Direct link to the official PDF (last update checked, August 2024): tm_035__ultima_actualizacion_agosto_2024.pdf, hosted on the regulation's official page: directemar.cl/reglamento-de-buceo-para-buzos-profesionales.

Who issues the TM-035, and who enforces it on the ground

Understanding the regulation means understanding who is in charge at each stage. It isn't a single office: it's a chain with three links.

DIRECTEMAR, at the top

DIRECTEMAR is the national maritime authority. It comes under the Chilean Navy and is the body that issues the TM-035, defines the licence categories and — key for the next point — is the one that, by the Director General's resolution, sets operational limits such as working depth. The regulation is the framework; the specific resolutions are what turn that framework into numbers.

Gobernaciones Marítimas (maritime governorates), the middle tier

The Gobernaciones Marítimas hold the exams for the higher categories: intermediate, specialist and commercial, as well as instructor, supervisor and contractor, mostly the theory component.

Capitanías de Puerto (port authority offices), the way in

The Capitanías de Puerto are where you process the licence — "at any port authority office", according to DIRECTEMAR itself — and where the entry-level exams, for basic shellfish diver, are held, both theory and practical.

Source: DIRECTEMAR, frequently asked questions on the professional diving licence.

The TM-035 categories: authorised work and equipment

The regulation organises the trade into a ladder of licence categories. Each one has defined work and an authorised type of equipment. This is the part of the TM-035 worth memorising, because it determines what you can legally do with each licence.

Source: TM-035, Diving Regulation for Professional Divers.

Besides this ladder, the regulation also includes Instructor, Contractor and Supervisor categories, each with four different types depending on the level they qualify for. For the detail on age and education requirements to get licensed at each level, we cover that in our guide to the professional diver's licence, and if your starting point is specifically shellfish diving, in basic and intermediate shellfish diver.

The point almost no one explains properly: the TM-035 doesn't set depths by category

Here's the fact that causes the most confusion, and it's worth spelling out clearly, because there's content going around — tables, articles, even material from some schools — that assigns a maximum depth to each licence category and attributes it to the TM-035. That is not in the regulation.

The text of the regulation states, in substance and almost word for word, that "depth limitation and the use of the different types of equipment shall be fixed by resolution of the Director General". In other words: the TM-035 sets out the structure — categories, authorised work, equipment types — but delegates the actual number of metres to a separate resolution, issued by DIRECTEMAR's Director General. That resolution is not part of the public body of the regulation you can download as a PDF.

The only depths that do appear written in the text of the TM-035 are for mixed-gas diving, and there the regulation is explicit: 90 metres with helium-oxygen (He-O₂) mix without a closed bell, and 200 metres with a closed bell. These are the only two depth figures the regulation fixes by itself, outside any later resolution. Everything else — what a basic shellfish diver, an intermediate, a specialist or a commercial diver can do in concrete metres — falls outside the text you can read in the PDF.

This has a practical consequence: if you're working out which category you need for the job you want to do, you can't settle it just by reading the TM-035. You need to cross-check that reading against the current resolution, which you get by asking at your local maritime authority, or against whatever the employer or school confirms as the job's actual operational limit.

How the regulation is organised, section by section

The TM-035 follows the typical logic of a Chilean naval regulation: it starts with general definitions, continues with the structure of categories and licences, and closes with the technical and safety conditions for diving operations. Broadly speaking, when you open the PDF you'll find:

• General provisions: the regulation's purpose, who it applies to, definitions of the trade's technical terms.
• The licence categories, with the work and equipment each one authorises (the table you saw above).
• Requirements for obtaining each licence: age, education, documentation, exams.
• Rules on diving operations: how a job is organised, roles on board or in the operation, minimum safety conditions.
• Provisions on equipment: types of equipment allowed per category, and the referral to the Director General's resolution for depth limits and specific use of each type.
• The section on mixed-gas diving, where the regulation's only two explicit depth limits appear (90 and 200 metres).

It isn't a document meant to be read straight through looking for "how deep can I go with my licence": it's meant as a regulatory framework, and the operational figure you're probably after — the depth — lives in another document, the Director General's resolution, not in this PDF.

Requirements and paperwork: what the TM-035 asks for to get licensed

Even though the regulation doesn't set depths by category, it does set out entry requirements in detail. If you're just starting out, here's what you need to have sorted before sitting the exam.

Sources: DIRECTEMAR and ChileAtiende, entry 1240.

According to the ChileAtiende entry, the fees for the process are: US$8.18 for the exam fee, US$9.52 for issuance and US$9.52 for validity, adjusted every 1 January. The process is carried out at any Capitanía de Puerto, and application dates are published each year on DIRECTEMAR's website.

To prepare for the exam, according to DIRECTEMAR itself, you have three options: self-study with the regulation, training through state-recognised bodies, or online simulations through the Capitanía Digital portal. If you're deciding where to start and which school suits you, that's a separate topic we cover in detail in how to become a commercial diver in Chile and in our list of professional diving schools.

TM-035 vs Ley 21.789: not the same thing

It's easy to mix the two up, because both deal with professional diving, but they regulate different things and now coexist.

The TM-035 is a maritime regulation, issued by DIRECTEMAR, under the Chilean Navy. It regulates the licence: who can dive professionally, in which category, with what equipment, under what authority. It is, essentially, a technical qualification and operational safety regulation from the maritime authority's point of view.

The Ley 21.789, known as the "Ley de Buzos" (Divers' Law), is different: it's labour legislation, published on 17 February 2026 and in force from around 17 August 2026 (the first day of the sixth month after publication). It is the first time a diver's employment contract has been regulated in Chile. It applies to extraction, farming or processing work involving hydrobiological resources — mainly aquaculture and industry using air diving — and expressly excludes military and police personnel and recreational diving. It requires the employer to provide "adequate technical means", maintain sufficient safety equipment with "permanent supervision and support" at every stage of the work, creates an inspectable electronic dive log, promotes certification of workplace competencies, and strengthens protections around subcontracting and temporary work. It also declares 18 December Chilean National Divers' Day.

The law itself commissions a joint regulation from the Ministries of Labour and Defence to set technical requirements, habitability standards, safe working methods, PPE, safety equipment and accident protocols. That regulation, as of now, still hasn't publicly set depths or oxygen or chamber standards — which is exactly why we're not going to invent them here either.

Source: Diario Constitucional, 17 February 2026.

If you want the full detail of what the new law changes and what stays the same, we cover it in our guide to Ley 21.789.

The framework keeps moving: SUSESO's public consultation

The TM-035 and Ley 21.789 aren't the end of the regulatory story. The Superintendencia de Seguridad Social (SUSESO, the Social Security Superintendency) has opened a public consultation on a circular that includes a Safe Diving Guide and more preventive requirements for the sector. It's still a consultation process, not a rule in force, but it's a clear signal of where the regulatory framework is heading: more preventive requirements, more written standards, and probably more pieces you'll have to keep track of to know exactly what's expected of you as a licensed diver.

Source: SUSESO, public consultation on the Safe Diving Guide.

If you're entering the trade now, it's worth not treating the legal framework as something settled. Between the TM-035 (in force for years already), Ley 21.789 (only just in force) and this SUSESO consultation, the sensible assumption is that the rules will keep being adjusted over the coming years, and that it's worth checking the official source now and then rather than relying on a summary from a while back — including this very post, which we'll keep updated as things get confirmed.

Why this framework matters if you're thinking about entering the trade

Beyond the regulatory detail, there's a practical reason to understand the TM-035 before getting licensed: it sets, from the outset, the ceiling on what you'll be able to do with each category. If you go in as a basic shellfish diver, your licence authorises you to work with light semi-autonomous equipment in extraction and aquaculture, not in "underwater work" in general — that's commercial diver territory, with "any equipment needed". Knowing this before choosing a course saves you the classic problem: paying for training that doesn't qualify you for the job you actually want.

It's also the basis for understanding the sector's accident rate, which is real and documented: according to DIRECTEMAR, 274 diver accidents were recorded at salmon farming sites between 2004 and 2026, of which 49 ended in the worker's death. Part of that accident rate has to do precisely with the gap between what's on paper — licence, category, authorised equipment — and what happens on the actual job, especially under subcontracting. Understanding the TM-035 properly doesn't protect you on its own, but it's the minimum basis for knowing whether the job you're being offered matches your licence, or whether you're being asked to operate outside what your category authorises.

If you want to go deeper into how this category structure translates into a real career path — where you start and how far you can get — we have a full guide on what a saturation diver is and another on where saturation diving work is found, though it's worth saying upfront: the TM-035 doesn't include saturation among its categories, and no Chilean school is known to train for it today.

What to do if the number of metres is what you actually need

If you got this far looking specifically for how many metres your category authorises, here's the honest answer: the TM-035 won't tell you, because it isn't in the text. The concrete steps are:

• Confirm your licence category, or the one you're considering going for.
• Ask directly at your Capitanía de Puerto or Gobernación Marítima about the Director General's current resolution setting depth and equipment use for that category.
• If you're weighing up a job offer, ask for the operational limit in writing, and check it matches what your licence authorises — don't just rely on what the employer or contractor tells you verbally.
• Be sceptical of any depth table "according to the TM-035" you find on forums, social media or school websites: if it doesn't cite the Director General's specific resolution, it has no basis in the text of the regulation.