I need some input becasue I'm really pissed off about this and I can't get it out of my head.

As a curtosy to some of our more experienced welders I gave them a copy of their welders certs as our company was starting to lay off so it would be a little easier for them to find new work.  At least in an interview they could prove that at one time they did posses certs for certain processes and positions.  I don't normally do this since my company paid to test them and it has my name and CWI stamp on it, but again these were uncertain times and I tried to help them out.  Also knowing whomever would hire them would re-test them anyway.

Well a local fabricator hired some of them, we subbed work out to that company and when I asked them for their welders certs- I GOT MY OWN PAPERWORK BACK!!.  The guy never re-tested them when he hired them, he just used the copy I gave the guys and put it in a file.  It still has my companys logo, name, address everything on it.

The owner said he'll get around to it sometime but he doesn't have the time or money to test them, and since they used to work for me he knows their good.

I'm LIVID over this and can't believe this is happening.

What can I do?  Other than go to AISC who they are certified through do I have any other recourse?  Who's to say they didn't make up other stuff with my stamp on it.

Let me know, thanks

AWS D1.1 only states the contractor has to make sure the welders are qualified. Unlike a WPS, the code does not say the current employer/contractor has to actually do the testing. Check out clause 4.2.2.2.

In my humble opinion, the current employer is penny wise, pound foolish. He is saving a few dollars by accepting the previous employer's welder qualifications, but how does he know the test was administered properly? How does he know it was the person whose name appears on the test record that actually took the test and not some "stand in"? How does he know the test was done in position and wasn't taken down to grind every weld pass? How does he know if the test assembly used backing without back gouging the root to ensure the root was sound? How does the current employer know the tests were properly evaluated?

The current employer is ultimately responsible for the work performed by his employees (recently a local contractor found that out the expensive way). A contractor that is a bit more savvy would not accept someone else's qualifications. There are simply too many unknowns. The cost of qualifying a welder is inexpensive compared to the cost of discovering the welder’s weaknesses on the job. The previous paragraph lists several of the reasons why I hesitate to accept welder certifications issued by AWS or other third parties unless the current employer cosigns the certification and accepts responsibility for the welder's work. If the current employer will not "certify" the welder, why should I accept the certification? Hint, hint, the bottom of the test report has a line that is to be signed by the contractor/employer, it doesn't say "laboratory."

You can always add a clause in your purchase orders and the RFQ stating that the current employer must test the welders employed on your work, qualifications issued by third party or previous employers are not permitted.

I ran into something like this once. I wrote several WPSs for a client, let's call them "Company A.” A year or two later while performing some third party inspections I discovered "Company C" had copied all my WPSs and put them on their own letterhead. They even included my CWI stamp on the WPSs. It is pretty easy to identify my WPSs and welder qualification test reports. Let’s just say they don’t look like the forms you find in D1.1. I didn't say anything; I just took the WPSs out of their QC manual(s), including their master manual. I can imagine their bewilderment the next time they looked for them. "Honest boss, they were in here the last time I looked!" 

Let's just say I never had a lot of respect for the CWI that was involved after that.

While I didn't like the fact "Company C" elected to use my WPSs without permission, I took it as a compliment they like the WPSs so much they adopted them as their own. Damn, that CWI stamp with my name on it looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

The bottom line is you can accept their actions as a compliment. They must trust you to know what you are doing. They must figure you are knowledgeable and trustworthy. In the long run it isn’t a bad compliment my friend.

Best regards - Al