Hi scrappy. congrats on the job. I'm sure at your orietation or soon after the company you are working for will give you the run down on how they do things as far as paperwork and reports. I have always found that when you meet the welders , introduce yourself and tell them what you are looking for in the inspection of their welds. I always tried to be a straight shooter with people, because there are alot of inspectors who are real dickheads and I do not feel that is necessary. If you tell them what you expect when you are called to inspect their welds you should not have a problem. Be yourself, be consistent,  and make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do  code wise and I'm sure you will be fine. Good Luck and make a bunch of money!

Don't sweet it. When I did my 1st outage it was a 12 hour drive to the job. I went in got drug tested, talked the the companies QC manager for about 30 minutes and he said I'll be back later in the week. That was it. Kinda had to poke around and find out what was going on. I just went through all the paperwork that was laying around on the QC desk and figured it out. As far as qualifying welders, just be firm but fair. For inspections of the welds on the job same thing or they will walk right over you. They will test you to see how much they can get away with. I had to call out the project manager over the radio before they would isten to me and realize that all work would be stopped unless they addressed my concerns.

Have Fun

Well you will definitely get some experience, outages can be very busy.... and of course there is usually a strict timetable.  If you are part of an inspection team, it will be much easier to fit into a routine.  If you are on your own, it might be a good idea to ask to see some inspection reports from previous outages.

After 35 years in inspection, when I take a new assignment, I will still ask to see previous reports, mainly so I can see what my customer has been getting and also to get a feel for what how those past jobs went.  Often companies that hire outside inspectors will have a template report, so I don't try and re-invent the wheel.   Very often, things like the correct charge numbers, PO, WO numbers etc. are very important, so don't overlook asking about those things and make sure they appear on your reports and time sheets or invoice.

A good professional relationship with the craftsmen is a must, so I make it a point to meet all the supervisors, foremen and lead men.... and introduce myself to the welders.  I do a short review of my duties with the supervisors and foreman, usually they are no strangers to inspectors and just want a fair shake.  For the first few days I make it a point to visit with them about the good things I see, and about any things that need attention.  On a job with good welding I'll tell them something like "if you keep up this kind of work, it's going to make my job really easy".  A little vote of confidence early on will really help with the relationship.  Compliments go a long way.

Don't be surprised to find some welders commenting about welding other than their own. It happens all the time.  Often on outages the welders might not even know each other, or maybe they do.... if you get my meaning.  But all-in-all, all the workers want a quality job and we all know how expensive rework can be.