Gentlemen,
I may be wrong, for English is not my mother language, but from what I've understood of Donnie's massage he's not saying that he's the inspector. He's just asking for help on how to replace structural steel bolts with welding. Chances are he's the engineer in charge of that task and before taking a decision would like to know sound opinions from qualified people, as this Forum frequentors.
Donnie, I'm not a structural steel engineer, so I can't be of help to you. Why don't you try the AISC site? They're the great specialists on structural steel, or, as we say in Brazil, the Popes on structural steel. Here in Brazil, when someone knows a heck of a lot about a subject, we say that "he's the Pope on that subject".
Another idea. Someone (I don't remember who, must be Henry) attached the Code on Structural of the State of New York to one of his postings. Click on Search and try to find it out. Good luck.
American Institute of Steel Construction site: www.aisc.org
Giovanni S. Crisi
Sao Paulo - Brazil