AWS A2.4 is not a workmanship standard. It does not address issues relating to workmanship. For instance, in the case of intermittent filler welds: Does the welder start his layout at the middle of the joint length and work toward the free ends or should the welds be laid out starting at one end and progress toward the opposite end?
Those are workmanship issues not addressed by AWS A2.4.
Continuing with the same example, does the welder have to deposit the weld so that the joint is welded to the very end or is it permitted to begin the first weld several inches from the joint end? Again, that is a workmanship issue not addressed by A2.4.
Workmanship is addressed by the welding standard or the code to a limited extent. The issues addressed are the minimum requirements that must be met. If and when the criteria provided do not meet with the employers (or customer's) needs or expectation, additional criteria can be imposed by the contractor via internal quality control documents or work instructions or by the client via the project specifications.
Fair is fair, the welders and the inspectors should be of equal footing when it comes to knowing what the ground rules are. There should be no hidden agenda where the "acceptance" criteria are suddenly sprung on the welder after the project is underway. Workmanship requirements should be clearly stated and presented to all interested parties before work begins. Most welders do not have access to welding standards or codes, so a management system that doesn't provide their workers with adequate direction is going to suffer the consequences by increased repairs, higher labor costs, customer and worker discontent. A good management system has an established (written) workmanship standard that is known and understood by parties. When a customer imposes additional requirements or requirements that differ from the norm, it is incumbent on the employer to make those alternate requirements known.
As I’ve said before, there are good welders, poor welders, good inspectors and bad inspectors, good engineers and bad engineers. The same holds true for management. Some employers know what they are doing and some, well let’s face it, the lousy employers, like lousy welders, inspectors, or engineers, are usually weeded out and eliminated when times are tough. Darwin works in nature and it works in the in business world.
Best regards - Al