Experience and Documented Procedures
Procedures that survive an audit
The standard asks for documented procedures covering the work that affects structural steel erection: erection plans, site-specific safety plans, inspection and test plans (ITPs), bolting and welding procedures, receiving and storage, and handling of nonconformances. A procedure is not a shelf document. It must be approved before use, available at the point of use, and revised under control so that obsolete copies cannot be mistaken for current ones. Records must show the procedure was followed-date, project, task, person, and result.
Traps: applicants frequently answer that "experienced crews know the procedure" or that verbal instructions are sufficient. For certification, an undocumented practice is not a controlled procedure. Another trap is treating a policy statement as a procedure: "We will erect safely and correctly" states intent but not who does what, when, or with what acceptance criteria. Reviewers also look for revision history and distribution; a current procedure in the office and an old one in the gang box is a finding.
Rule of thumb: every controlled procedure should answer four questions-who performs it, what acceptance criterion applies, what record is produced, and who approves changes. Worked example: a company erects a two-story commercial frame. Its erection plan names the sequence, temporary bracing, crane pick plan, and inspection hold points. Each hold point produces a signed checklist before the next step. That is a documented procedure in use; a generic "erection sequence" narrative without hold points and signoffs is not. Retention matters too: keep records long enough to demonstrate conformity for the project and certification cycle.