I am a QA SPECIALIST SHIPBUILDING with the US NAVY[not retired NAVY]civilian.I have AWS/CWI and
have been doing welding and structural inspections for the last 16 years.Started in BOSTON NAVY YARD
and served a 4 year apprentice ship in pumps,piping,hydraulics,valves,etc.
Also have QA background in ship board piping and machinery systems; installation,testing,and sea trials.I
am going to retire this year with 42 years.I want to continue working after retiring from civil service on the
road using my CWI certification.Have used mil-std-1689[welding and structure],mil-std-278[piping],navsea
7000 brazing, mil-std-248 welders certification and procedures,etc. in US NAVY ship building.
How hard is it to get a road job with my CWI and experience?What about the API 510 and 570 certs?
If hired by a company for CWI work will they pay for training to take the API 510 and 570 exams?For
instance training at CODE WEST which i believe is near houston[correct me if i am wrong].I have a nephew
who lives in houston.
How about some input by you experienced folks who have been around NAVY ship building as well refineries,
power plants,bridge inspection,etc.I have a copy of AWS D1.1 which was given to me by a fellow inspector
and i have no problem interpreting this document as it has many similiarities to mil-std-1689.What about
ASME B31.1 on piping systems?Need some good input here fellow AWS members,etc.Thanks.
DON KUMPUNEN US NAVY [civilian] QA SPECIALIST SHIPBUILDING PASCAGOULA,MS. INGALLS NGSS
ASME B31 Code for Pressure Piping (of which B31.1 is the first part), is a standard that rules the design, fabrication and erection of pressure piping. It is not an equivalent to AWS D1.1.
Equivalents to AWS D1.1 (Structural steel welding procedures and welders qualification) would be:
ASME Section IX for boilers, pressure vessels, atmospheric and low pressure (less than 10 psig) storage tanks and pressure piping other than oil and gas pipelines.
API 1104 for oil and gas pipelines.
Giovanni S. Crisi
Sao Paulo - Brazil
you can get steady work as a contract cwi. but if your going to be traveling, the api certs will get you more money for the same work. you should be able to find steady work at 20 to 100 hours a week. what ever you want. a good way to test the waters if your still working is to take a vacation for a week or so and coordinate it with a testing lab for a turn around or shut down. it is different then what you do now. this will help to see if this is something you really want to do. good luck
Just a word or warning. Welding in the civilian world to ASME codes is not the same as working to the NAVSEA standards. The NAVSEA standards go into details that aren't required by ASME, so when inspecting pipe work to ASME, you have to leave some of what you know about NAVSEA piping at home.
I've had some experiences with inspectors, both retired Navy and civilian, that sometimes forget the code that is specified in the project specification is the only one that matters. What applied to your last job doesn't necessarily apply to the job you're inspection today. I call it "excess baggage".
This advice is for all inspectors, myself included. It all to easy to get drawn into the trap. How many of us have heard someone say, "That's not how we did it on my last job!"
Best regards - Al
AL,
I understand where you are coming from as i have used ABS STDS in shipbuiding that are different than
US NAVY NAVSEA standards as well as USCG standards.I have worked TDY in marinette,wisconsin on the
littoral combat ship that has both NAVSEA,ABS, and USCG standards.Thanks.
DONK
If you have that much experience working with different standards, you know exactly what I'm speaking of.
Good luck in your new pursuits.
Best regards - Al
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