I have a problem. I have no specifications for an inspection that has been completed.

The customer called one day to see if I would be available in three days for a one day inspection. Having the time and not knowing the customer's expertise in welding, I called the customers main office to make sure that I would have a WPS and welder cert on hand for the inspection. I was assured they both would be in place for the big day. Both were on hand when I arrived. The WPS covered E71T-8 for every conceivable position and metal thickness. The welder was covered as well. The rub came when I looked at the roll of wire on the feeder. It was E71T-11. I said to the customer that I was not sure that that wire would be acceptable to the EOR. He said that he typically used this wire because his welder likes it. That's always a good reason to choose a wire. O'well. I told him that in my opinion E71T-11 doesn't have the charpy values consistent with structural requirements for buildings. I also told him that he could use whatever he wanted and I would just report what I see.

There were no specifications written for the type of weld material to be used. No specs for the material to be welded could be found on the drawing. Not wanting to be a dummy I called the EOR to see what he thought of the choice of wire used by the contractor. I also wanted an explanation of the weld symbol that indicated 2" long fillet welds. You know like what size? And how often?

The EOR told me that it was no problem for me to write my report based on what I saw and that the lack of specs meant nothing as well. He would evaluate the report on the basis of what he reads and if he thinks it will work.