Welding procedures and welders
Guidelines on approval testing
WG 01
The Safety Assessment Federation SAFed represents the interests of companies
engaged in independent inspection and safety assessment of engineering and
manufacturing plant, systems and machinery.
ISSUE STATUS AND REVISIONS
Issue
Date
Pages
01
1998
New document
02
November 2012
New document
Proposed revisions should be notified to the SAFed technical manager.
© 2012 Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed)
Welding procedures and welders
Guidelines on approval testing
Edition 2 - November 2012
Welding procedures and welders
Guidelines on approval testing
Table of Contents:
Page
CONTENTS
1
INTRODUCTION
4
2
OBTAINING WELDING CERTIFICATION
5
3
WELDING OF TESTPIECES
7
4
TESTING
8
5
CERTIFICATION
9
6
SAFed MEMBER COMPANY SERVICES
10
APPENDIX I
11
WELDING PROCEDURE APPROVAL TEST CERTIFICATE E1
12
DETAILS OF WELD CERTIFICATE E2
13
DETAILS OF WELD CERTIFICATE E2 (CONTINUATION SHEET)
14
TEST RESULTS CERTIFICATE E3
15
WELDER APPROVAL TEST CERTIFICATE E4
16
APPENDIX 11
17
The mechanical integrity of plant containing hazardous substances
A guide to periodic examination and testing
Edition 1 - September 2012
3 of 55
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1
Welding approvals
The practice of approval testing of welding procedures and welders has been employed for
over half a century. Approval testing is carried out prior to production commencing and it
is therefore essentially a quality assurance measure rather than a quality control activity.
1.2
Commonly used terms
The more commonly used terms associated with welding approvals are as follows:
• Preliminary Welding Procedure Specification (pWPS)
This is a tentative welding procedure specification that is assumed to be adequate by
the manufacturer but has not been approved.
• Welding Procedure Test
Involves the production and testing of a welded joint in order to prove the feasibility
of a welding procedure.
• Welding Procedure Approval Record (WPAR)
A certificate that states all the relevant data / results from a welding procedure test.
• Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)
A document that details the variables required to ensure repeatability of a specific
application.
• Welder Approval Test
Involves the production and testing of a welded joint in order to assess the capability
of a welder.
1.3
Welding standards commonly used in the United Kingdom
The Standards listed below are concerned with approval by a testing route:
• BS EN 287-1:2011 - Qualification test of welders - Fusion welding - Steels.
• BS EN ISO 9606 series - Qualification test of welders - Fusion welding.
• BS EN ISO 15614 series - Specification and qualification of welding procedures for
metallic materials - Welding procedure test.
• BS EN 1418:1998 - Welding personnel - Approval testing of welding operators for
fusion welding and resistance weld setters for fully mechanized and automatic
welding of metallic materials.
Other Standards e.g. BS 4872 parts 1 and 2 - Specification for approval testing of welders
when welding procedure approval is not required, remain current.
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2.0 OBTAINING WELDING CERTIFICATION
There are five key steps to obtaining certification of an approved welding procedure or
an approved welder:
• Preparation of a pWPS or WPS,
• Welding a testpiece,
• Testing,
• Assessment of the results,
• Issue of certification.
Welding and testing will be witnessed by an examining body, normally a third party
inspecting authority, which will then assess the results and issue the certification.
2.1
The first steps
Access to contract documentation to determine what Standards are involved and the
range of approval (material thickness, diameter etc.) is the required first step.
In some EU countries, additional testing requirements are imposed by product Standards
and it is essential that these are also considered at this stage.
It is recommended that SAFed member companies become involved at this stage to provide
advice and guidance based on knowledge of the product and welding Standards involved.
A programme of approvals can then be planned to accord with the contract and provide
maximum coverage for any future contracts. This is an important issue as welding
approvals are valuable documents that can be used on many contracts.
2.2
Essential preparation
It is vital that, prior to the SAFed member company representative (engineer
surveyor) arriving to witness the welding of testpieces, the manufacturer undertakes
adequate preparation.
The minimum requirement is a pWPS detailing the welding parameters necessary for the
welder to weld the testpiece satisfactorily.
Testpieces and consumables should be correctly prepared and stored, and the welder
briefed regarding his role in the approval process e.g. whether it is procedure approval or
welder approval only.
Preferably, some development testing will have been completed to ensure both that the
procedure will be acceptable and/or that the welder has undergone sufficient training.
The better the preparation, the greater the chance that failures, delays and associated
additional costs will be avoided.
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2.3
Examining bodies
The Examining Body is an organisation appointed to verify compliance with the Standard.
In cases where contracting parties are involved the Examining Body must be acceptable to
those parties.
Acceptability varies between industrial sectors and it is therefore recommended that an
Examining Body which holds national recognition and international notifications
(approvals) and/or affiliations is chosen.
Where authority to issue welding certification is not fully defined by legislation, the major
UK Examining Bodies generally utilise notification under relevant European Union (EU)
Directives as the criteria by which to assess potential Examining Bodies. This approach
provides assurances of the Examining Body's quality system, technical competence in the
relevant technology and adequacy of liability insurance.
SAFed members adopt the above approach to assess the capability of members and other
bodies to issue welding certification.
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body
recognized by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards.
Organizations that provide welding certification and testing should have this described in
their details of accreditation.
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3.0 WELDING OF TESTPIECES
3.1
Procedures and parties involved
A SAFed member company selected to conduct welding approvals should be contacted so
that a suitable date and time for welding to proceed can be arranged.
Upon arrival al the site, the engineer surveyor will carry out the following activities:
• Identification of materials against relevant certification,
• Witnessing the set up of the testpiece(s),
• Verification of the welder's identity,
• Marking the testpiece with the relevant identification e.g. Examiner, Welder, pWPS,
• Witnessing the welding of the testpiece,
• Confirming adherence to the Welding Procedure Specification or recording
any differences.
The engineer surveyor may not be present throughout all the welding operation although
for welding procedure testing he is likely to be there.
During the approval lest, the welder will be expected to show adequate practical
experience and knowledge of the welding process, materials and safety requirements for
which approval is being sought.
On completion of welding, the SAFed member company representative will visually
examine the testpiece for compliance with the relevant Standard.
3.2
Job knowledge testing
Testing a welder's job knowledge is optional in BS EN 287, but it may be specifically
required by some European countries.
Job knowledge testing can be performed by SAFed member companies and would be an
additional activity carried out by the engineer surveyor.
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4.0 TESTING
Following welding and visual examination, tcstpieces will need to undergo non-destructive
and/or destructive testing. Such testing may be undertaken in a SAFed member company
laboratory or by other organisations with suitable facilities and established expertise in
the requirements of welding and product Standards.
If the testing is undertaken by another organisation, the SAFed member company
engineer surveyor would attend the laboratory to witness, as a minimum, the tests that
cannot be verified on examination of testpieces e.g. tensile and impact tests and to assess
other completed tests e.g. radiography, bend and hardness tests.
The SAFed member company engineer surveyor will also assess all the documentation
e.g. material identification, record of welding and test results and take a decision on
compliance with the Standard.
Suitable facilities are provided by laboratories accredited by the United Kingdom
Accreditation Service (UKAS) against the requirement of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 - General
requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
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5.0 CERTIFICATION
5.1
Description of certification
When Certification is issued by the SAFed member company that witnessed the welding
approvals, it will be in a standard formal bearing the SAFed logo and watermark, the
member company's name and a unique identifying number.
The certificates contain translations on the reverse side as an aid to acceptability overseas
and their format has been agreed within CEOC the European Federation.
If manufacturers wish to use their own certificates, such certificates will be endorsed by a
SAFed member company provided they are typed/laser printed, technically and factually
correct and contain all data required by the relevant Standard.
In all cases, certification will only be issued on satisfactory completion of the approval
process and will only be valid when bearing the SAFed member company stamp, signature
and unique identifying number.
5.2
Validity and renewal of certification
Welding Procedures, once approved, remain valid indefinitely and are thus valuable
documents.
For the most common Welder Approval Standard in the United Kingdom, BS EN 287,
the certificate remains valid for two years from the date when all the tests have been
satisfactorily completed, provided it is endorsed by the welding coordinator or the
responsible personnel of the employer at six-monthly intervals.
It is necessary for the welder to have maintained his/her skill and been employed with
reasonable continuity in that class of welding throughout the period of validity to enable
his/her certificate to be endorsed.
If these conditions are not fulfilled the approval lapses automatically.
At the end of the two year period the approval may be renewed (prolongation) by a
SAFed member company after review of the records retained on file with the welder's
approval certificate.
The records of tests must:
• Involve volumetric testing,
• Be traceable to the welder,
• Be representative of the range of approval indicated by the certificate.
If such records arc not available then re-approval will be required. Re-approval at
two-yearly intervals may be found to be more economic than collating and maintaining
records of tests for each welder approval certificate.
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6.0 SAFed MEMBER COMPANY SERVICES
• SAFed member companies arc major providers of Welding Approvals in the UK.
Considerable experience and expertise is available to make the whole process of
obtaining welding and welder approvals easier for manufacturers.
• SAFed member companies arc able to give expert advice prior to approval on matters
such as:
• Product and Welding Standards,
• Test programmes,
• Development of procedures,
• Advice on training matters.
• This not only ensures technical accuracy but reduces costs and maximises the future
worth of the approvals gained.
• SAFed member companies, via a nation-wide network of engineer surveyors, are able
to deal with all aspects of welding approvals including:
• Witnessing,
• Testing,
• Issue of Certification.
• SAFed member companies have considerable involvement in the drafting and
production of British and European Welding Approval Standards, thus providing the
ability to give advice on known or anticipated future developments.
• SAFed has a technical committee infrastructure that assists uniform application of the
relevant Standards and provides authoritative interpretations of key issues within the
Standards to aid the fabrication industry.
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APPENDIX I
Welding procedure and welder approval certification
It is essential, for the validity of the certificates, that the details entered are
accurate and complete. (Examples of correctly completed certificates are shown in
the next section).
Welding certificates, correctly completed, potentially span many projects and can
therefore have a long life: they are valuable documents and their accuracy is of the
utmost importance.
Welding Procedure and Welder Approval Certification takes the form of one, or a
combination of, the following:
• El - Welding procedure approval test certificate (optional)
This provides formal certification for a welding procedure approval test and a
statement defining the range of approval for essential variables. (See page 12)
• E2 - Details of weld test
This certificate records the actual welding parameters used for the test. It would
always be used in the case of a welding procedure test and possibly for a welder
approval test not carried out to a previously approved procedure. (See page 13)
A continuation sheet E2c is available. (See page 14)
• E3 - Test results
This certificate is used to record the results of non-destructive and laboratory tests on
the weld testpiece. It would be used for procedure approval tests without exception,
but for welder approval tests is not normally necessary since test result acceptability is
simply recorded on the Welder Approval Test Certificate (E4). Additional information,
for example photomacrographs or radiographic reports, may need to be appended to
this sheet as applicable. (See page 15)
• E4 - Welder approval test certificate
For most applications this single certificate will include details of the weld test
parameters, the test results and the range of approval. (See page 16)
Certificates E1 - E4 supplied by SAFed have translation details on the reverese for use
if necessary.
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APPENDIX II
Comparison of numbering systems for welding procedure and welder approval standards
BS EN 287 - Approval testing of welders for fusion welding
Original number
Title
New number
BS EN 287-1
Steels
BS EN ISO 9606-1 *
BS EN 287-2
Aluminium and its alloys
BS EN ISO 9606-2
* BS EN 150 9606-1 is not yet a Harmonised European Standard (it is published),
therefore, it has not fully replaced BS EN 2871-1: 2011.
BS EN 288 - Specification and approval of welding procedures for metallic materials
Original number
Title
New number
BS EN 288-1
General rules for fusion welding
BS EN ISO 15607
B5 EN 288-3
Welding procedure tests for the
arc welding of steels
BS EN ISO 15614-1
BS EN 288-4
Welding procedure tests for
aluminium and its alloys
BS EN ISO 15614-2
BS EN 288-8
Approval by a pre-production
welding test
BS EN ISO 15613
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