Fighterfan14
ASNT has a program called the ACCP program. You can go on line and get the requirements from them. If you are doing structural work, there is also the ICC (international Code Council) Structural Steel and Welding Special Inspector certification. Special Inspection is required in many jurisdictions for building fabrication and erection. Their examinations are very cheap. The toughest part of their examination is the drawings reading examination.
Falsifying WPQs can very well be crime if those WPQS are filed as part of any contract with the state or local government. In many cases it is a felony to do it for Federal contracts. In some cases it is a felony to do it for State contracts.
Preselecting and marking joints for RT before they are welded is NOT ALWAYS a crime and in many cases, maybe not even unethical. I personally felt it was criminal and unethical, and reported it to the authorities on a federal contract where CBI was the erector. I was told it was not a crime.
If you get a CWI, some of those activities are Code of Ethics Violations. The problem you have now, is that you are somewhat comfortable with doing things that are unethical right now, because that is your job. You recognize it is wrong, yet you still work there.
It will be more difficult for you to step back into the straight and narrow, now that you have dabbled in the "Dark Side"! (With apologies to George Lucas and Luke Skywalker)
Only you can straighten up and fly right. (Unless you get arrested first) I knew a guy in Connecticut who was inspecting school erections. He had a brand new CWI card, and was hired by an unethical Inspection Company to do special inspections. When he would report things, the owners of the Inspection Company, (PEs both) just gave him more work to do, Ignored his complaints and shuffled him around so he couldn't do follow up inspection. Finally, he said to himself that he was being used to falsify inspections on "Schools". (Schools are also public shelters during storms and disasters.) How would he live with himself if something happened. Even though he needed the job, he exposed the whole operation and lost his job. His personal Ethics Quotient was higher than those he worked for and those he exposed the problems to. Not much was done by the authorities, and the two PE's found anther CWI to work for them.
On the other side of the coin, California arrested some CWIs several years ago for not reporting some illegal welds on REBAR. They allegedly sat in their trucks as the illegal welds were performed. In California, DSA will arrest you and prosecute you for some things! They do not take kindly to submitting fraudulent documents for filing.
You have a tough decision to make!
Joe Kane
Thank-you Joseph,
I cn honestly tell you that I am doing the right thing the 3 WPQ's I was refering to were never put in the File , nor did I sighn them the 3 welders were laid off not too long after my supervisor was asked to leave. I do try to encourage the welders to make every weld a X-ray weld even though I lay the Junctions and 3'oclock welds out, and so far they hve listened. I want to get the training and absorb all of the info that I can before I see anymore "Dark side".
On the Training , right now the Tank job that I am working on now is API-650 and AWWA, is that better than AWS D1.1?
Does anyone know more about ICC? I am still researching information on inspection career possiblities and have not decided which one interests me the most. CWI/ASNT/API/ now ICC. Too many choices!!!
International Code Council. As for a career in inspection, most places require you to be certified for what you are inspecting. My job requires CWI, ICC Structural Steel and Bolting, ICC Fireproofing, ASNT level II for UT, MT, PT, as well as a few others. By no means is this a bragging post, as I know guys who work with the same company that put me to shame when it comes to qualifications. Many of the certs you can get require experiance in th field you are trying to certify in. Some companies will hire you as a trainee/helper to get you started. The company I work for will pay for your cert courses if you pass.
That sounds like a sweet job! I have very little financial resources right now so I am trying to figure out what I want to do to fix that. I have been a welder for 15 yrs +/- so naturally I looked into CWI. Doing research for the CWI I discovered ASNT and API. It all sounds very interesting and rewarding, personally and financially. Unfortunatly I have worked in production welding my entire career and done nothing of real "significance" so I am out of the loop. I want to mold myself into a certified professional that a company would want to hire. So I am trying to research as much as possible, in many different fields and certs to find where I think I would like to belong.
Thanks for EVERYONES input.
Although many replies and posts just give me more damned questions!!! LOL
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