The welder is only qualified to the maximum thickness of the welding procedures used by the employer.
Unlike AWS welder qualifications, ASME qualifications (in general) only apply to the employer that qualified the welder. If the welder is terminated or quits, his qualifications are no longer valid.
My understanding is that if the WPS thickness range is limited to 3/4 inch max, then the welder's qualifications are limited to a maximum of 3/4 inch. If the employer qualifies a new WPS with a range thicker than 3/4 inch, the welder's qualifications would also be extended to cover the entire range of the new WPS. If the employer's new WPS has a range of 3/16 inch to 8 inches, the welder's qualifications (as in your case) would be 8 inches max.
Best regards - Al
That makes a whole lot of sense Al, but let me ask you about this little twist:
I do a 1/8 inch thick root pass on the pipe with an F3 (6010) rod than fillout the rest of the joint with an F4 (7018) rod for the rest of the pipe, say ½ inch additional thickness. Now if my WPS was qualified with 7018 up to 1-inch then the welder is also qualified upto 1-inch using 7018 with or without a 6010 root.
Would that be correct from an ASME point of view?
You said an additional 1/2 inch deposited with E7018; so I would expect that the E7018 was deposited in more than 3 layers, so you would be qualified to use an F4 electrode with backing up to 1 inch in thickness as per the qualified WPS.
Best regards - Al
While the subject is going, is there a minimum thickness range for welder qualification?
Ken
Ken,
There is no minimum thickness for Welder Qualification, only Procedure Qualification.
However as Al has mentioned your WQ thicknesses are still governed by your companies WPS thicknesses.
Regards,
Shane