803056,
You brought up alot of the things I also experience. I asked a welder one time how much money he stood to make from the $100 test I was giving him and he told me that in his area the sky was the limit. $75-100 an hour if he passed the test. He felt the price of the test wasn't justifiable. I told him that for the price of the test he was getting my time to purchase the plates, bevel them, polish them, tack them together, the electrode's he would use, the machine and electricity to weld them, my time to cut the coupons, polish those, bend them and do the paperwork. Add in the cost associated with becoming a CWI and I felt he was getting a bargin. He didn't see it that way. I remined him that I didn't call him, he called me. Seems like sometimes people forget that my time and qualifications are worth something too.
After reading you guy's post's which I truly related to and enjoyed I could not help but hope you read this and reply because I wonder if you guy's ever have to contend with this, I test on the average around 80 welders a year 99.9% are done to the requirement's of Sect.IX or D1.1 and most have a QC manual that's the contractor's and the Customer's Requirement's that that add something to what is acceptable and what is Not, however the latter usually just has something to do with the way the test is given. Anyway Sect.IX and D1.1 make it plain and simple And I follow all that to the letter, I never ask a man to do more than the code period,and I have young men driving to these job's from great distances in all kinds of situation's. I hear and have heard every sad story there is to hear. But when I bend the strap's and they do not meet the Inspection criteria they fail. I always try to be as professional as I can and do it in a way that is most respectful to the man and to show him that I am really helping him and Now he knows that he need's to correct and or improve his welding technique and I've been around long enough that most everyone knows me are has heard of me,and thankfully most of the time we part and they know where I'm coming from and they listen to me take my advice and they know I'm really truly just trying to help them. But more times than I care to say I catch the devil and have a real hard time trying most of the time in vain to prove that I did not write the ASME SECT. IX nor did I write the D1.1 But they surely do always walk away knowing that I will not compromise what I represent a AWS CWI. The last shutdown I did me and the Welders on that job had a zero RT reject rate. Be a safe and have the best Year ever.
Whip
Passing welders that are not capable of performing the required task isn't helping anyone. The codes delineate the minimum requirements to be met. With that in mind, it is to the employer's benifit to make sure the test is representative of the work to be performed as well as meeting the code's requirements.
I agree with your position that the code is the code and the welder has to at least meet those requirements. However, it is prudent to make sure the construction code is also considered when working to ASME B&PV or pressure piping codes. The welders must be capable of meeting the acceptance criteria of the construction code as well as Section IX if the welds are to be accepted. A welder that passes the requirements of Section IX may be "legally" qualified to weld to B31.3 High Pressure requirements, but he may not be able to meet the applicable acceptance criteria. It is better to apply the acceptance criteria of the construction code to the performance test than to waste time and money in the field with a welder that isn't capable of meeting the appropriate acceptance criteria. Cut outs cost dearly and it doesn't make the client feel confident the contractor is competent when he reads inspection reports with high reject rates.
The key is to make sure the welder is aware of what he is expected to do, how it is to be done, and what the applicable acceptance criteria is before taking the performance test. "No surprises" is something everyone can live with.
Best regards - Al
$100.00!?
You prep and tack the plates, you cut/prep the test strips too? Sounds like a bargain!
I give the test plates with a WP and let the testing welder do all the prep work. Because the prep work is the hardest part of the test and it lets you know if they can follow instruction from the welding procedure, like the degree of bevel and also the depth of the bevel and other thing.
M.G.