From an Owners Camp............
We do not accept D1.5, items (1) and (2). Our construction contracts clearly states inspectors will be selected by the owner. The criteria we use for selecting is usually based on our prior experience with him/her. Sometimes (depending on locale) we engage the services of a third party agency. However, even then, we obtain resumes of the agencies personnel and we decide whom to engage.
All things being equal, we will tend to lean toward a CWI. Unfortunately, there are many, many incompetent and unreliable CWI's out there. I have concluded a CWI really doesn't mean all that much. None of the top five inspectors we usually engage are CWI's.
In my view, if a CWI chooses to enlist the aid of an Assistant Inspector, that is his/her choice. And the CWI can assign the assistant whatever chores he/she sees fit. However, he (the CWI) is solely responsible for successfully completeing his/her assignment - and it is his/her feet that will be held to the fire.
By vonash
Date 01-15-2007 23:32
Edited 01-15-2007 23:38
Whew!
According to some of these posts from prominent AWS forum respondents: CWI qualification, expertise and status - in fabrication shop organizational charts - are on a
Lesser level of importance than company sponsored employees.
Does this mean that a welder looking at another welder's work in lieu of a CWI is minimum requirements for control of quality as long as the shop writes it into their QC manual? Yes!
Would I recommend a shop to one of my clients knowing they practice minimum quality control throughout their fabrication process? NO!
I have worked long and hard to support the steel manufacture, fabrication, erection, and testing industry and I apologize to anyone who may feel slighted by my remarks, I am only one voice and I intend no malice.
There may be Shops out there that disseminate this practice to their sub-contactors who treat the AWS standard as a secondary document "If it's not on the shop prints, it isn't so". I hope not.
My Best Regards,
VonAsh
"This has been interpreted anywhere from "the CWI is above the non-CWI in the company org chart and is physically present somewhere in the building most of the time" to "the CWI looks over the shoulder of the non-CWI a goodly portion of the time".
Owner here...
Re: The Inspector Qualification The way I read it, the three "...acceptable qualification bases..." listed include the word "or" at the end of each description signifying they are all of the same hierarchy - not one is "above" the other .
I see no requirement in AWS for a "CWI" to monitor the Assistant Inspectors; instead I believe it means whoever is/are the desiginated Inspector(s) are ultimately responsible for the work of the Assistant Inspector(s) (and therefore are required to monitor them).