Dr. Beldyk

Looking at AWS D1.1   4.32  it says: "...or if there is specific reason to question their welding abilites..."

It is very subjective and I like that... If your project is such that gouging out a bad weld is gonna cost thousands of dollars or more, you are going to want the ability to pull a welder out of service quickly, wheras if you are in a manufacturing environment than a different method of determining might be better.

Sometimes pulling a welder out to retest might solve an easy problem like welders in their 40's not realizing that they now need eye glasses or mangnifiers in their hoods in order to make good welds.

A retest may or may not help somebody who has lapsed into poor workmanship habbits.

The last company I worked for (Aerospace Workers Union IAM welders) offered training when the reject numbers were high... But we did not have a specific rubric to make the determination. It's a real heart breaker when they are really applying themselves but for some reason were still not making the cut.

If it's costing you time and money... Thats specific reason enough in my opinion, assuming it is not a process control issue or that the welder is not working in very adverse conditions. Sometimes conditions are terrible or the process has gotten out of control, but the folks upstairs only see the reject papwrwork.

This is a very good thread topic...  quite alot of variables and options depending on what type of work is being done and what sort of environment the welder is working in.  Contract welders, long time career employees, new workers struggling with increasingly difficult duties etc.