Is it just me, or does the cost of code books through the AWS seem to have gone up with the price of oil, electricity, etc. I would like to hear some thoughts on this one from some of the resident welders, inspectors, consultants in this forum.
I think the cost of EVERYTHING associated with AWS has gone up. I got my CWI renewal package recently and the renewal cost is $490 for 3 years. If I absolutely had to have it for continued employment, I might shell out that kind of money. But I don't, so I will probably drop it. The cost of a D1.1 code book is near $300. It's gotten so darn complicated and hard to use, that we use other standards whenever possible or provide a detailed specification that covers the bases better with less ambiguous criteria. I get just as much useful information from the free publications out there as I do from the Welding Journal. I'm beginning to question whether it's worth the cost to continue my membership.
I tend to aggree. The quality of the books and publications seems to have gone down in some cases and the prices have gone up.
I renewed my CWI a few years ago and when I was looking at the price for the 9 year renewal or a complete retest. The complete retest was only 100 or so dollars more. I took the whole test. Of course I lost my origivnal CWI number and AWS didn't seem at all intereted in trying to work around that so any business cards or information would remain the same.
$75.00 a year seems a large price to pay for a magazine. The Welding handbooks are great except they never seem to come out from printing when thay say they are. Why can only one volume at a time be published.
OK I'm done Ahhhh.
By -
Date 03-27-2001 14:52
Yes sir, I agree with all that's been said and it boils down to perceived value.
Similar to MBSims, my last three year cert of nine is up next month and I'm not re-certifing or keeping my membership. Since I retired two years ago, my part-time consulting work doesn't afford me enough hours to qualify without testing again and being "certified" isn't a requirement of my clientel nor is it a requirement in any of the Consulting Agreements I sign. My particular clients find their value in my experience/ability rather then if I'm certified. This was also true with the chemical company I spent my 34 year career with. Becoming a CWI was not a requirement of employment or for promotability and rate progression within my department but it offered a great, formalized training opportunity which was a requirement.
Of course, they also paid the AWS bills which was always nice!
So the old, updated resume now states that I was "certified" to a date and "certifiable" thereafter!
have a great day!
I'm sure the AWS does not care if a few of us have gripes, this is not the opinion of a few, I have heard these remarks industry-wide. My 2000 IBC was less than half the cost of a D1.1, and it's about 1-1/2" thick. Other codes, standards and specifications are much more economical to purchase, especially if you need only for one project. What about the screw-ups in these codes which requires their never-ending errata?
I don't want to be an instigator, or keep hammering the subject like the other one on this forum (low-hydrogen), but I would really like to hear from all who read this post and possibly forward it formally to the AWS. If AWS is having rolling blackouts or a shortage of fossil fuel to publish code books, it will be much cheaper for all of us to pitch in and by them a generator or their own oil well.
Please don't be shy about contributing constructive critque.
Your dues pay their salaries.
Don't get mad at the world, gentlemen!
Back in 1977 I was in Tampa, Fla, at the service of my Company, and I stayed there for about six months. One of my company mates asked me to buy the Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook, the "Bible" of chemical engineering published by McGraw Hill from NY City and send it to him as printed matter by ordinary mail. The reason was that the overall cost (book plus mail) was far below the purchase cost of the book in Brazil.
I remember as it had happened yesterday: I paid exactly 40,00 US dollars for the book. Now the Perry's handbook is advertised on the McGraw Hill magazines for 400 bucks or so, i.e., exactly ten times more expensive than it was 24 years ago. Has the cost of living gone up ten times in the United States in 24 years?
So, gentlemen who use this site for free, don't be so cruel at blaming AWS.
Best regards
Giovanni S. Crisi
Sao Paulo - Brazil
Nobody that I know of is mad at the world. An understanding of the content would help before responding.
I guess the economy is doing well, no one seems to mind the prices we are now paying.
I don't like the prices. I recently trained twelve men to take the CWI test. I did not want to pay the $675.00 you have to pay now to take the test if you are not a member (why be forced to pay for 3 year membership). With their agreement, I sent them $571.00 for the non-members (1 year membership + $12 for initiation) and $490.00 for the 3 or 4 that were members. Everyone in the group has been harassed the past year and threatened to be taken to the collection agency for not paying the $675.00. Don't get me wrong, I really like AWS and use them as a source for information, but they really need to learn how to communicate between departments.
i bought a book for $79.00, I called back 4 months later to find out that Global was now selling the books, and since they took over there was a 10% increase in the cost of the books. The new cost was $143.00. What the hell kinda math is that!!
