Contract welders welding to in house procedures?

By Kix

Date 09-09-2010 21:24

I'm still very new to ASME and want to learn as much as I can about this code. In the next coming months we are going to be slammed with work and are going to bring in some contract welders from a mechanical contractor to help us out. We have 3 ASME turbine coil jobs and a lot of NAVY DOD work that we have to get done and we need some help.
1st. If we send this mechanical contractor our prints and they come back and tell us they have valid welding procedures for these 3 jobs, can they come up to our place and weld on these three jobs under our roof legally? This would of course be after we and our customer reviewed the mechanical contrators welding procedures and their welder certification to the procedures and validated them.
2nd. If the mechanical contractor does not have valid welding procedures and or it takes to long to get their procedures bought off, can the mechanical contractor welders come in under our roof and certify to our already validated welding procedures and weld on these three jobs under our roof?
3rd. For any of you NAVSEA guys, can you do question number 2 when working to NAVSEA techpub 248 and 278? I already know question #1 is out because this mechanical contractor has never done any NAVSEA work.

If you ASME or NAVSEA pro's could give me a yay or a nay on these 3 questions it would be greatly appreciated. It would also be appreciated if you could point me in the right direction on where it talks about this kind of stuff in the code.

Thanks!!
Kix

By 803056

Date 09-11-2010 14:07

As I understand the provisions of ASME, the contractor that has supervisory responsibility and legal liability for the work is responsible for the qualification of the welding procedures and the welders.

If the contract welders are under your direct supervision and you have the authority to hire and fire, they can work to your procedures. If the contractor still has supervisory responsibility and if they are still contractually responsible for the welder's work, they cannot use your welding procedures.

As for the work performed under the auspices of NAVSEA TP278/TP248, welding procedures cannot not be transferred from one activity (contractor) to another activity. Nor can the welders' qualifications be transferred to another activity. You know the drill regarding getting welding procedures approved by NAVSEA or their authorized representative. First, the procedures with supporting PQRs and test reports, film, etc. has to be submitted to your company and reviewed. From that point, your company has to pass the procedures up the food chain until they reach NAVSEA, SupShips, etc. for approval.

The welders have to have the requisite training per an approved training program w/ written examination, visual acuity examination, and finally the skills demonstration to be qualified.

Unless there is a "long term" project involved it is doubtfull it would be cost effective for a contractor to get involved with work meeting the requirements of TP278/248.

I provide technical support for several clients that are involved in military work. The entry costs are very steep considering the systems that have to be in place before they can begin production. Most of the work they do is slated for either submarines or surface warships, the process is not quick nor is it easy. A company that has an ASME Stamp has a basic understanding of the systems that are required, but still, the differences are substantial.

Best regards - Al

By Kix

Date 09-14-2010 16:27

Thanks Al for this great reply! Here's the thing that's going on. My company will have supervisory responsibility for the contract welders, but can the mechanical contractor that is supplying the welders take on the legal responsibility for the weldment so they can use their own welding procedures and welder quals all the while building the weldment under our roof? So basically we are subbing out this weldment, but it will be being built at our place.

Thanks!
Ray C.

By 803056

Date 09-15-2010 03:31

If the contractor has their own qualified procedures that meet the needs of the work, there is no reason they cannot do the work. If you are supervising and directing the welders, why would the contractor accept legal responsibility for the work if they have no control?

Why not simply subcontract the work to the contractor so they can use their own welders, procedures, and supervision?

Best regards - Al

By Kix

Date 09-20-2010 20:46

Sounds kind of weird doesn't it. Well, there is a whole lot that has to be done to these coils that this contractor can't do before any welding even happens. Too much back and forth kind of stuff, very efficient let me tell ya. ;-) My company wants to set up an assembly line with these three different jobs going down it and I don't have the man power. So contract welders came into the equation, but I didn't have all my ducks in a row. As of a few days ago we didn't have any material on hand to test these contract welders to our procedures. That's why I wanted to know if they could use their procedures and welders to come in here and do the work. I'm guessing they didn't have anyone avaible to oversee this job and or didn't want to take on the responsobilty. I have since ordered material and it's on it's way. They will test to our procedures and I will supervise. You have explained very well what my options are and I appreciate it very much!

Thanks again!
Ray C.

By 803056

Date 09-20-2010 21:04

Good luck on this project. It sounds like coordination is going to be key in getting it done within budget and on time.

Best regards - Al