The term "Certified Welder" is the most abused and misunderstood term there is. One thing about welding is that there is a tremendous amount of variations in the skills and experiences of welder based upon industry and materials welded. A person may be "certified" for almost any type of weld from the easiest that can be trained for in hours to those requiring years of training and experience to get proficient.

The issue probably lies with the person who chose the welder without any understanding of the processes involved. A welder is "certified" when someone signs a document indicating a person has completed some type of task on a material, process, joint type, position, and other variables.

I would LOVE to see the project specifications written for this.

The inspector inspected the welds, did he verify the WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) ? Did he look at the fitup prior to the welding? Was he a "certified" welding inspector?

On the welds themselves some questions.

1) What was the acceptance criteria (Something that is ABSOLUTELY needed for someone to inspect)
2) Did the drawings show joint details in accordance with any code?
3) What was specified to the welder as to his/her qualification requirements ?
4) What if the "ART" looked bad, is there someone I can report it to ?
5)  Is the structure itself designed as a structurally sound structure? Are the joints of sufficient design to properly handle the service conditions? Did an engineer verify that it was sound?

Just a few of the many thoughts that this stirred up.