General

When structures and pressurised items are fabricated by welding, it is

essential that all the welded joints are sound and have suitable properties
for their application.
Control of welding is achieved by means of welding procedure specifications
(WPS) that give detailed written instructions about the welding conditions
that must be used to ensure that welded joints have the required properties.
Although WPS are shop floor documents to instruct welders, they are
documents that welding inspectors also need to be familiar with. This is
because they will need to refer to WPS when they are checking that welders
are working in accordance with the specified requirements.
Welders need to be able to understand WPS and to have the skill to make
welds that are not defective and demonstrate these abilities before being
allowed to make production welds.

Qualified Welding Procedure Specifications

It is industry practice to use qualified WPS for most applications.
A welding procedure is usually qualified by making a test weld to
demonstrate that the properties of the joint satisfy the requirements
specified by the application standard (and the client/end user).
Demonstrating the mechanical properties of the joint is the principal purpose
of qualification tests but showing that a defect-free weld can be produced is
also very important.
Production welds that are made in accordance with welding conditions
similar to those used for a test weld should have similar properties and
therefore be fit for their intended purpose.
Figure 1 is an example of a typical WPS written in accordance with the
European Welding Standard format giving details of all the welding
conditions that need to be specified.

1.1

Welding standards for procedure qualification

European and American Standards have been developed to give
comprehensive details about:

How a welded test piece must be made to demonstrate joint properties

How the test piece must be tested
What welding details need to be included in a WPS
The range of production welding allowed by a particular qualification test
weld

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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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The principal European Standards that specify these requirements are:

EN ISO 15614
Specification & qualification of welding procedures for
metallic materials Welding procedure test
Part 1: Arc & gas welding of steels & arc welding of nickel & nickel alloys
Part 2: Arc welding of aluminium and its alloys
The principal American Standards for procedure qualification are:
ASME Section IX for pressurised systems (vessels & pipework)

1.2

AWS D1.1

Structural welding of steels

AWS D1.2

Structural welding of aluminium

The qualification process for welding procedures

Although qualified WPS are usually based on test welds that have been
made to demonstrate weld joint properties; welding standards also allow
qualified WPS to be written based on other data (for some applications).
Some alternative ways that can be used for writing qualified WPS for some
applications are:

Qualification by adoption of a standard welding procedure - test

welds previously qualified and documented by other manufacturers

Qualification based on previous welding experience - weld joints that

have been repeatedly made and proved to have suitable properties by
their service record

Procedure qualification to European Standards by means of a test weld (and

similar in ASME Section IX and AWS) requires a sequence of actions that is
typified by those shown by Table 1.
A successful procedure qualification test is completed by the production of a
welding procedure qualification record (WPQR), an example of which is
shown by Figure 2.

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1.3

Relationship between a WPQR and a WPS

Once a WPQR has been produced, the welding engineer is able to write
qualified WPSs for the various production weld joints that need to be made.
The welding conditions that are allowed to be written on a qualified WPS are
referred to as the qualification range and this range depends on the
welding conditions that were used for the test piece (the as-run details) and
form part of the WPQR.
Welding conditions are referred to as welding variables by European and
American Welding Standards and are classified as either essential
variables or non-essential variables.
These variables can be defined as follows:
Essential variable a variable that has an effect on the mechanical
properties of the weldment (and if changed beyond the limits specified by
the standard will require the WPS to be re-qualified)
Non-essential variable a variable that must be specified on a WPS but
does not have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the
weldment (and can be changed without need for re-qualification but
will require a new WPS to be written)
It is because essential variables can have a significant effect on mechanical
properties that they are the controlling variables that govern the qualification
range and determine what can be written into a WPS.
If a welder makes a production weld using conditions outside the
qualification range given on a particular WPS, there is danger that the
welded joint will not have the required properties and there are then two
options:
Make another test weld using similar welding conditions to those used for
the affected weld and subject this to the same tests used for the relevant
WPQR to demonstrate that the properties still satisfy specified
requirements
Remove the affected weld and re-weld the joint strictly in accordance with
the designated WPS
Most of the welding variables that are classed as essential are the same in
both the European and American Welding Standards but their qualification
ranges may differ.
Some Application Standards specify their own essential variables and it is
necessary to ensure that these are taken into consideration when
procedures are qualified and WPSs are written.

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Examples of essential variables (according to European Welding Standards)

are given in Table 2.

Welder Qualification
The use of qualified WPSs is the accepted method for controlling production
welding but this will only be successful if the welders have the ability to
understand and work in accordance with them.
Welders also need to have the skill to consistently produce sound welds
(free from defects).
Welding Standards have been developed to give guidance on what
particular test welds are required in order to show that welders have the
required skills to make particular types of production welds in particular
materials.

2.1

Welding standards for welder qualification

The principal European Standards that specify requirements are:
EN 287-1

Qualification test of welders Fusion welding

Part 1: Steels

EN ISO 9606-2

Qualification test of welders Fusion welding

Part 2: Aluminium and aluminium alloys

EN 1418

Welding personnel Approval testing of welding

operators for fusion welding and resistance weld setters
for fully mechanised and automatic welding of metallic
materials

The principal American Standards that specify requirements for welder

qualification are:
ASME Section IX Pressurised systems (vessels & pipework)

2.2

AWS D1.1

Structural welding of steels

AWS D1.2

Structural welding of aluminium

The qualification process for welders

Qualification testing of welders to European Standards requires test welds
to be made and subjected to specified tests to demonstrate that the welder
understands the WPS and can produce a sound weld.
For manual and semi-automatic welding the emphasis of the tests is to
demonstrate ability to manipulate the electrode or welding torch.

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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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For mechanised and automatic welding the emphasis is on demonstrating

that welding operators have ability to control particular types of welding
equipment.
American Standards allow welders to demonstrate that they can produce
sound welds by subjecting their first production weld to non-destructive
testing.
Table 3 shows the steps required for qualifying welders in accordance with
European Standards.
Figure 3 shows a typical Welder Qualification Certificate in accordance with
European Standards.

2.3

Welder qualification and production welding allowed

The welder is allowed to make production welds within the range of
qualification recorded on his welder qualification certificate.
The range of qualification is based on the limits specified by the Welding
Standard for welder qualification essential variables
s - defined as: a
variable that if changed beyond the limits specified by the Welding
Standard may require greater skill than has been demonstrated by the
test weld.
Some welding variables that are classed as essential for welder qualification
are the same types as those classified as essential for welding procedure
qualification, but the range of qualification may be significantly wider.
Some essential variables are specific to welder qualification.
Examples of welder qualification essential variables are given in Table 4.

2.4

Period of validity for a welder qualification certificate

A welders qualification begins from the date of welding of the test piece.
The European Standard allows a qualification certificate to remain valid for a
period of two years provided that:
The welding co-ordinator, or other responsible person, can confirm that
the welder has been working within the initial range of qualification
Working within the initial qualification range is confirmed every six months

2.5

Prolongation of welder qualification

A welders qualification certificate can be prolonged every two years by an
examiner/examining body but before prolongation is allowed certain
conditions need to be satisfied:

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 Records/evidence are available that can be traced to the welder and the
WPS that have been used for production welding
The supporting evidence must relate to volumetric examination of the
welders production welds (RT or UT) on two welds made during the 6
months prior to the prolongation date
The supporting evidence welds must satisfy the acceptance levels for
imperfections specified by the European welding standard and have been
made under the same conditions as the original test weld.

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The welding engineer writes a preliminary Welding Procedure Specification

(pWPS) for each test coupon to be welded

A welder makes the test coupon in accordance with the pWPS

A welding inspector records all the welding conditions used to make
the test coupon (called the as-run conditions)

An Independent Examiner/ Examining Body/Third Party Inspector may be

requested to monitor the procedure qualification

The test coupon is subjected to NDT in accordance with the methods

specified by the Standard visual inspection, MT or PT and RT or UT

The test coupon is destructively tested (tensile, bend, macro tests)

The code/application standard/client may require additional tests such
as hardness tests, impact tests or corrosion tests depending on
material and application

A Welding Procedure Qualification Record (WPQR) is prepared by the

welding engineer giving details of:

The as-run welding conditions

Results of the NDT
Results of the destructive tests
The welding conditions allowed for production welding

If a Third Party Inspector is involved he will be requested to sign the

WPQR as a true record of the test

Table 1 Typical sequence for welding procedure qualification by means of a test weld

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VARIABLE
Welding process

RANGE for PROCEDURE QUALIFICATION

No range process qualified is process that must be used in
production

PWHT

Joints tested after PWHT only qualify as PWHT production joints

Joints tested as-welded only qualify as-welded production joints

Parent material
type

Parent materials of similar composition and mechanical properties

are allocated the same Material Group No.; qualification only
allows production welding of materials with the same Group No.

Welding
consumables

Consumables for production welding must have the same

European designation as a general rule

Material
thickness

A thickness range is allowed below and above the test coupon

thickness

Type of current

AC only qualifies for AC; DC polarity (+VE or -VE) cannot be

changed; pulsed current only qualifies for pulsed current
production welding

Preheat
temperature

The preheat temperature used for the test is the minimum that
must be applied

Interpass
temperature

The highest interpass temperature reached in the test is the

maximum allowed

Heat input (HI)

When impact requirements apply maximum HI allowed is 25%

above test HI
when hardness requirements apply minimum HI allowed is 25%
below test HI

Table 2 Typical examples of WPS essential variables according to European Welding

Standards

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The welding engineer writes a WPS for welder qualification test piece

The welder makes the test weld in accordance with the WPS
A welding inspector monitors the welding to ensure that the welder is
working in accordance the WPS

An Independent Examiner/Examining Body/Third Party Inspector may be

requested to monitor the test

The test coupon is subjected to NDT in accordance with the methods

specified by the Standard (visual inspection, MT or PT and RT or UT)
For certain materials, and welding processes, some destructive
testing may be required (bends or macros)

A Welders Qualification Certificate is prepared showing the welding

conditions used for the test piece and the range of qualification
allowed by the Standard for production welding
If a Third Party is involved, the Qualification Certificate would be
endorsed as a true record of the test

Table 3 Stages for qualification of a welder

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VARIABLE
Welding process

RANGE for WELDER QUALIFICATION

No range process qualified is process that a welder can use in
production

Type of weld

Butt welds cover any type of joint except branch welds

fillet welds only qualify fillets

Parent material
type

Parent materials of similar composition and mechanical properties

are allocated the same Material Group No.; qualification only allows
production welding of materials with the same Group No. but the
Groups allow much wider composition ranges than the procedure
Groups

Filler material

Electrodes and filler wires for production welding must be of the

same form as the test (solid wire, flux cored, etc); for MMA coating
type is essential

Material
thickness

A thickness range is allowed; for test pieces above 12mm allow

5mm

Pipe diameter

Essential and very restricted for small diameters; test pieces above
25mm allow 0.5 x diameter used (min. 25mm)

Welding positions

Position of welding very important; H-L045 allows all positions

(except PG)

Table 4 Typical examples of welder qualification essential variables according to

European Welding Standards

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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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WPS and Welder Qualifications
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