I work for a company that supplies welded steel products and right now we have 8 contracts for plants in the EU. Must we follow EN standards, or can we use what we do now (design to AISC and fab/inspect to AWS D1.1)?
Some of our sub-suppliers I have spoken with have stated that they ship to Europe all the time and they are all D1.1 shops.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
p.s. if you could supply links to expert opinions I could quote, that would be very helpful.
Your customer is the entity that would have the authority to accept work constructed in accordance with AISC and D1.1 or not. I believe they have already made the determination they expect compliance with EU standards.
There are significant differences between EU standards and those used in the US. For example, base metal specifications are different, as are filler metal specifications. The EU is no different than US customers, we typically specify compliance with AISC or ASME. As such, we don't expect it is our responsibility to review all the EU standards to see if they comply with our standards when a foreign corporation wants to use their standards. It is their responsibility to ensure the standards specified by the project specifications are met. Recognizing the US is the land of "Price is Everything", we are often willing to purchase substandard materials and fabricated products from countries like China. We have numerous examples of situations where the US is satisfied to allow delivery of substandard materials if the price is right. Can you say "Bay Bridge"? Or how about the "Thomas the Train" debacle? Toddlers throughout the US were exposed to toy trains with high levels of lead paint because it was cheaper to make the toy trains in China. Only when the watchdogs stepped in did the company step up to replace the contaminated toys. Or how about the pet food imported from China or the dry wall widely distributed in the southern states that was contaminated?
Just my thoughts on the subject.
Best regards - Al
Welcome to the Forum Idaho,
Not to be a smartass, but do you have access to the actual text of those 8 contracts...
Your answers really should be within those.
What my superiors are looking for is verbiage to the effect of... "AWS D1.1 is acceptable worldwide for the fabrication of structural steel products". Or something similar they could send to our customers.
I understand that AWS and EN have multiple differences, but I think what we're trying to get across to them is that if we build to AWS, they will still receive a safe and quality product in the end.
To directly answer question without any preamble: No, AWS D1.1 is not acceptable in the EU. This is assuming your European customer is expecting all welding to be performed per their EN standards, and per their European design criteria. The AWS welding codes do not directly translate to the EN requirements, there are just way too many differences in how they do things.
Now, if you are providing a European customer with a product of your own design, I can't see how they could expect anything different. You would just state that your product is designed and fabricated in conformance with the applicable US codes and standards. Made in the USA, right?
Topic American Welding Society Services / Technical Standards & Publications / Is AWS D1.1 acceptable in the EU?
