So I am in the middle of writing 4 PQR's for a company.  Now we just do the testing and write the paper work, we are not the field CWI that witness's the testing.  Anyways, the company will not give us the names of the welders.  They are making me find in the code where it states a welders name has to be put on the PQR. We are working off AWS D 17.1 and some other specs.  I tried to explain to them that the welder who did the PQR will be qualified to the procedure but they just keep making life difficult.  My boss told me to let it go and they will just get papers that say "welder 1" on them since they don't want to cooperate.  I told them if they ran into a scenario where a customer asked to see their PQR paper work they wouldn't have a welder listed who has worked or currently working for them listed.  Again it fell to deaf ears.

Can anyone site where this is so I can very politely and professionally EDIT: show them?

Thanks
Jordan

How do you answer the following question?  “How do you complete the paperwork if you have no direct knowledge the information is correct or accurate?”

A fundamental requirement of all the welding standards I have worked with is that the welder depositing the weld has to be employed by the contractor responsible for actually making the welds. Most of the codes and standards contain words to the effect that the welding of the test assembly cannot be subcontracted. The mechanical testing and any NDT may be subcontracted, but not the actual welding. That being the case, anyone associated with the  documenting the welding and testing of the test assembly or reviewing the documentation (in the case of a client) must be able to verify the welder was employed by the contractor at the time the welder welded the test assembly. Be wary of completing PQRs if you did not witness the assembly being welded. You may very well be placing your certification in danger. You could be very easily be violating the Code of Ethics that you agreed to abide by when you accepted your credentials from AWS.

Your employer stands to lose nothing if you are charged with a Code of Ethics breach, but you can lose your CWI credentials and possibly be banned from being a CWI for life.

All CWIs and SCWIs would do well to read the Code of Ethics in QC1. I ask you and every other CWI/SCWI the following question, "How do you know that you are not participating in a fraudulent activity by complete the WQTR or the PQR with information that may be entirely fictitious if you were not present when the test assembly was welded?"

Were that not the case, I would make a heck of a good living welding test coupons for my clients instead of witnessing the welding of the test coupons.

It is a standing policy in my company that I will not complete any paperwork for welding or work that I did not witness. If the client wants my signature and my stamp on the paperwork, I witness the actual welding of the test assembly. I verify who the welder is and I record all the test data. Have I turned away work because the customer simply wanted me to do the bend tests? No, but I simply send them a report for the bend tests that is a completely separate form from the WQTR. I do not complete a welder performance test report, I do not sign the WQTR, nor do I complete PQR forms or sign the PQR if I did not witness the welding. Do I lose some work to other testing labs? Probably, but my primary concern is that I maintain the integrity of the SCWI stamp I hold as well as my name and reputation. I do not want to join the multitudes of CWIs that have lost their CWI credential because they signed for work they had no direct knowledge of or control over or through ignorance participated in fraudulent activities. 

The fact that you asked the question is an indication you have some misgivings about what you are being asked to do. You already have a gut feeling that it is unethical. Your gut is usually right. You already know the answer to your question. Now for the hard part, telling your new employer that you cannot ethically do what you are asked to do. Now your employer finds out what you are made of. There is a chance he is testing you to see the strength of your character.

I once had the owner of a testing lab tell me he had to change my report before sending it to the client. "The owner doesn't want to hear that the structure is no up to code. They only want to hear the good stuff so they can move forward."

I told him that if I ever caught him changing my reports I would break his arm. My report went to the client as written and I refused to do any more work for the lab. In the years since, the lab has been caught filing soils reports before the ground was cleared, they were caught filing concrete test reports before the forms were up, and they were caught using a PE's stamp several months after the engineer had left the company. 

The best compliment I've received from a client was, "I might not like what you have to say, but I know it is your honest opinion and I can take it to the bank."

Best regards - Al