You may need the help of a local, knowledgable CWI to help guide you through D1.1, in particular, the Qualification section. What you seem to be asking for would take some considerable time to cover in a single post. But if you have the time you can post some of the more direct questions and we'll be glad to help where we can.
Couple questions to get you started with the welder qualifications:
1) welding process(s)?
2) welding positions required? (ie. no sense qualifiying welders for positions like overhead or vertical if all weldments can be positioned in flat or horizontal positions)
3) types of joints? ie. all fillet welds, or are there groove welds also?
4) thickness of materials to be joined?
5) types of materials to be joined? ie. ASTM #'s


This should get you started, there will be many more to come as you answer these.
John Wright

This is my 2 cents response to your question. As a design engineer your responsibilities include complying to the required codes and standards. AWS D1.1 contains the requirements for fabricating and erecting of welded steel structures. If you are involved with "tying into building structure" as you say, I would suggest you get very familiar with this code book, as most State Building Codes will require your compliance to AWS D1.1 if you are in fact adding, modifying, or making repairs to a buildings' structural steel.

John Wright explained in detail above the weld qualification aspects. AWS D1.1 is a commonly recognized welding qualification procedure, and if you are not welding pressure vessels as you say, you have no need to reference the ASME code. As a design engineer you should also be familiar with Section 2 of AWS D1.1 , "Design of Welded Connections".

You asked how Codes work together. Codes really do not work together, as they are pretty specific to their intended scope. The ASME Code is specific to boiler and pressure vessels. It is not concerned with the structural steel of the power plant the boiler is housed inside. Sometimes some aspects of one code may be acceptable to another code. For example, some engineers may accept an ASME qualified welding procedure, for a structural steel application.

It has been my experience that the AWS D1.1 Code has become so universally recognized, that State and Local codes typically reference or significantly duplicate the D1.1 Code for buildings, and other welded structures.

Since you mentioned you do machine design, often times machine building companies use D1.1 for control of the welding side of their fabrications.
Hope this helps a bit.

You might take a look at D1.1 Annex C -
"Guide for Specification Writers" -
it may be of some small help.