My response regarding mail in certs was to Fit4aking's post of 04-28-2014 10:36, which in part stated....
“I reconnected with the $1,200 per cert place (
http://www.earlbeck.com/) and they offer mail-in certifications for out of state clients. They are the company that all local community colleges send students to for welding classes so they work with accredited schools in my area. The "out of state" fee is $375 and they provide the coupons. I can even go pick them up and drop them off just can't use their equipment to take the test.“
I was wondering if anyone else accepts papers from other companies. I just don’t trust them, let alone a mail in cert. We do things like you do…. qualify every procedure and qualify every welder. I definitely wouldn't trust the validity of a "mail in" cert.
“How does your customer know who welded what? What's to stop, in the owner/prime contractor/buyer of your structural steels mind, from saying you mailed them in, that someone else took the test for them??” All very valid questions. I do things by the book and I don’t compromise my integrity for anyone. I don’t know you personally, but from what I know by reading your posts, you are very knowledgeable and I see you as one who goes by the book as well, but a mail in cert just seems a bit on the shady side to me. There's definitely an opportunity there.
“The (3rd party?) QC on the fab, the QC at the fab's unloading off the truck on site, the final product QC, those will tell the tale if your employer is trying to cheat the system, hopefully. If not then blame the structural steel system.”
Good points. If I were a third party inspector out on a jobsite, I would definitely be looking at shop quality, especially after what I’ve seen from other fabricators in the area. As you said, those will tell the tale.
Gilligan’s Island was a great show. Every lesson in life that I’ve learned, I learned by watching Gilligan’s Island. The one thing that always baffled me is how they could feed and clothe everybody using nothing but palm trees and beach sand, but they couldn’t fix a three inch hole in the boat.
Boutique cert? Very rare. Maybe I’ve seen some of your boutique work. I visit Victoria’s Secret at least twice a week to look at welds. The other day I was in there walking around trying to find some welds to look at, and I accidentally bumped into a very attractive sales associate. She asked if she could help me, and I told her my wife’s birthday is coming up and I wanted to buy her a bra. She asked if I knew what size bra she wears and I told her that I had no idea. She suggested that by touching her, it may jog my memory and help me with my wife’s bra size. I wanted to make sure, so I touched her for several minutes before making a decision. Then she asked me if she could further assist me. I thought a matching pair of panties would be nice, so I asked her if she could help me figure out what size panties my wife wears.