It might be a case where your certified welder has to meet the requirements of AWS, possibly due to the wording in the contract documents. We are a structural fabricator, so ours usually specify something like "Welders shall be qualified per AWS D1.1", "Welder Qualifications: Evidence that welders employed in the work are currently certified under AWS D1.1 qualification procedures", "Perform field welding in accordance with AWS Structural Welding Code for Steel", however, there is hope.
In D1.1, under Previous Performance Qualification, 4.1.2.1 states that previous performance qualification tests of welders that are "properly documented" are acceptable with the approval of the engineer. The acceptability of performance qualification to other standards is the engineer's responsibility, to be exercised based upon specific structure, or service conditions, or both.
Find out who the engineer is, talk to him, fax him the welder's cert. and see if he approves it.
Check the wording in the contract specs. I've had to write RFI's to clear up this type of wording. Problem is, this should be done prior to fab or erection, so everybody is on the same page to avoid an inspector trying to interpet the contract docs his way.
I take "
welders must be AWS Certified" as having to send the welder off to an AWS accredited facility to take the performance testing.
And then sometimes I see simply "
welders must be Certified per AWS(or per AWS D1.1), and I take that as the welder can be performance tested and qualified by the fabricator or erector.
John Wright
Peterweld; you mention that the welder in question is both Qualified and Certified by testing. This can only lead me to believe the welder was qualified and certified under another program; do you know which program? i.e., ASME Section IX or ???
Certified meaning by the contractor who hired the welders and who qualifies by his previous qualification records and independent inspection log showing continues use of procedures.
I am not sure what "AWS Certified" means.....but, as already noted, the issue of qualifying welders should be addressed in the Contract. Our welding spec., which is part of every Contract states that each welder, welding operator and tacker assigned to work on this Contract shall be certified in conformance with AWS D1.1, Section 4.
This doesn't help you, Peter, in your current situation. Your solution, it seems to me, is to let the Engineer decide what "AWS Certified" means.
The prime contractor has the Engineer working on a spec revision and the welder is back onsite. It seems the inspector was actually the head LA county building inspector and not the CWI. The welder is a subcontractor for a vault installation and has done a hundred over the past 8 years.
[quote]"contractor has the Engineer working on a spec revision and the welder is back onsite." [/quote]
Good news, this helps you out a bunch. Glad to hear it worked out. I run into that contract spec language barrier more and more it seems. The spec writer has no clue what he/she is writing sometimes. They can make life confusing, at best, for the folks "trying" to give them what they are asking for.
John Wright
Good response, John. As much as we would like Spec writers to be every bit as technically compentant as we are it just ain't so... at least all too often. Glad to hear things apparently have worked themselves back to even keel!
Guys:
I forwarded this thread to several local building official friends of mine here in Los Angeles including a former LACo senior engineer.
Chuckles all around...
I am glad to hear of a favorable outcome in your case. I frequently see in our job specs that welders are to be qualified in the last 1 or 2 years. I too believe that the spec writers do not really know what they are asking for. I have qualified and certified our welders as hired, but most are not certifed within the last 2 years. We perform AWS D1.1 work exclusively and D1.1 does not require certifications to be renewed at any periodic basis. It only requires continued service as has been discussed at length on previous threads on this forum. So far we have not been challenged on this issue when I submit a letter stating continuous service of each welder. I have instructed our PMs to challenge any potential owners reps that wish us to go beyond what the code requires but so far I have not heard of any reps asking for more. I told management that sooner or later we may come across a rep that stands his ground and holds us to the letter of the contract (however ridiculous that may be) and we will have to certify all the welders again. In the mean time, we will continue business as usual.
There might be a misunderstanding on this regards. The welder maybe qualified and certified in accordance with AWS D 1.1 or any code the welder has been certified. But if the welder goes beyond the limit of his qualification the same incidence will happen, he will be pulled out of the job.
There are essential variables that have to be considered in welders qualification. This essential variables are the limitation of a welder in performing his job. If any of these essential variables change therefore the welder has to be re-qualified.
This reminds me of the boiler plate spec that said all welding must met the first class workmaship requirements of the AWS building code.
It also reminds me of the welder that called me about getting certified. I asked him what he wanted to be certified for. His reply was "everything!"
It gives us a chuckle, but drives contractors insane when we as CWIs start to ask the important questions such as "what is required by the contract documents".
Al
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