Ask you customer for clarification.

Some contracts will invoke the requirements of MIL-STD-2219 others will default to AWS D17.1. You can never make any assumptions when contracting for military work. You have to follow the trail back to purchase order that was issued by the top tier contractor to make sure the same requirements are filtered down the chain to you.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have seen the chain broken by someone in the contracting department failing to pass the requirements down the chain and then act surprised when the crap hits the fan when the top tier refuses to accept the work because the welders were not properly qualified, the vision tests were not administered, the welding procedures were not submitted for approval, on and on and on.

I've got a client that bid a project based on drawings that invoked MIL-STD-248D as a fabrication standard. MIL-STD-248 is a qualification document, not a fabrication document. I told my client to ask for the "Standard Clauses" because they will include a clause that invokes NAVSEA TP278 as the fabrication document and NAVSEA TP248 as the qualification document whenever an existing drawing cites either MIL-STD-248 or MIL-STD-278. Sure enough, that was the case. That one clause changed the nature of the entire project, because now the welders have to have training, a written examination, a visual acuity test, as well as the skills demonstration (weld up the test plates).

NAVSEA TP278 has different weld classifications which dictate the extent and type of inspections required and the inspection class for the purpose of determining the proper acceptance criteria per MIL-STD-2035A. While reviewing the drawings to determine the thickness of the test plates for the welding procedure qualification I notices that there was no weld classification assigned. The default value is class 1, ouch! The joint details were not per MIL-STD-22D which means each "non standard joint detail" has to be qualified by testing and approved by the top tier and the appropriate authority. Another double ouch!

I told my customer that he needed to talk to his client to get the details straightened out and he should probably requote the project or plan on an equipment auction about half way through the project.

Best regards - Al