AWS D1.5 Endorsement

It is one of the CWI and SCWI Endorsements offered by AWS, listed on the AWS site alongside Structural Steel (D1.1), Structural Aluminum (D1.2), Railroad (D15.1), Aerospace (D17.1), and Pipeline (API 1104). It signals code-specific knowledge of bridge welding for inspectors who already hold or are pursuing CWI or SCWI certification.

No. AWS presents it as an endorsement within its CWI and SCWI Endorsements program, not as a separate professional certification. The underlying credential is the Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) or Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) certification. Check with AWS for the eligibility rules that apply to your situation.

AWS lists AASHTO/AWS D1.5M/D1.5:2025 among its codes and standards. Confirm the edition your specific exam references with AWS before you buy or study a code, because editions are revised and older copies may not match the exam.

AWS publishes an Exam and Reference Guide that appears among its open-book exam resources, and the guide is the authoritative place to confirm what reference material is permitted. Read that guide before exam day and bring only what it allows; the permitted list can change between exam revisions.

Difficulty depends on how well you can navigate the D1.5 code under time pressure. The endorsement is code-specific, so broad welding experience alone is not enough; candidates who have not worked with bridge fabrication and inspection provisions usually need structured, clause-by-clause study of the standard.

Start with the scope, definitions, and referenced documents, then move through qualification, fabrication, and inspection requirements before finishing with acceptance criteria. Practice locating clauses quickly in the code, since open-book exams reward navigation speed as much as recall. Confirm the exact edition and permitted references with AWS first.

The most common problems are studying a superseded code edition, relying on memory instead of practicing lookups in the actual standard, and skimming acceptance criteria that differ from general structural steel practice. Weak familiarity with bridge-specific fabrication and inspection provisions is another frequent gap. Verify the current edition with AWS before studying.

The source material reviewed here does not state a retake policy, exam duration, passing score, fee, or validity period for this endorsement. Those details are set by AWS and can change, so confirm them directly with AWS through its certification pages, price list, and exam schedule rather than relying on secondhand figures.

AWS lists education options including in-person training, online instructor-led training, and self-paced online training, plus a seminar and exam schedule and a list of CWI training locations. Use the AWS seminar and exam schedule to find a date, and the price list for current fees.