The FCAW Supervisor Says the Ticket Expired
Your shop fabricates to AWS D1.1. The welder qualification register shows M. Reyes passed a 3G SMAW test 14 months ago on 1 in thick single-V plate with steel backing, E7018, uphill. Production records since then: months 1-3 after the test, 3G groove welds on 1/2 in plate; months 4-10, FCAW-G only, in another cell; months 11-13, SMAW fillet welds (2F and 3F) on 3/8 in stiffeners. Nothing at all in the last five weeks. Reyes is scheduled Monday on 3G CJP single-V groove welds in 1-1/2 in plate with backing, E7018. The project manager also wants him on 4G groove welds the following week to avoid a shift change. The FCAW cell supervisor objects that Reyes's SMAW ticket has expired.
1. Is Reyes qualified to make the 3G CJP groove welds on 1-1/2 in plate on Monday? Walk through each qualification variable.
Read the worked answer
Yes, on all four variables, provided the register is backed by production evidence.
- Process: test was SMAW with E7018; production is SMAW with E7018. Same process and filler classification.
- Continuity: a welder's qualification stays alive while he welds with that process within any six-month window. Reyes welded SMAW fillets five weeks ago. The fillet work does not downgrade or consume his groove qualification. Groove qualification automatically covers fillet welding, the reverse is not true, and in either case the fillet work counts as welding with the process. The FCAW supervisor is wrong: ten months of FCAW does nothing for SMAW continuity, but the SMAW fillets since then do.
- Position: 3G test, 3G production. Covered.
- Thickness: a 1 in groove coupon welded with backing qualifies unlimited thickness under D1.1 (coupon 1 in and over with backing).
- Backing: production has backing, same as the test.
Action: attach the weld maps or stamp records showing the SMAW 2F/3F work in months 11-13 to the register entry so continuity is documented, not just known.
2. The project manager wants Reyes on 4G groove welds next week. What do you tell him, and what would it take?
Read the worked answer
3G is not a superset of 4G. The 3G test qualifies vertical only; overhead is a separate position and needs its own test coupon. A vertical test does not carry into overhead just because the plate is the same.
Options:
- Qualify Reyes on a 4G coupon. If the coupon is at least 1 in thick, with backing, same process and filler, the resulting qualification covers 4G at unlimited thickness.
- Qualify him on 6G pipe if tubular work is ever likely, since that one test covers all positions.
Cost is one test plate plus bend or RT examination. The coupon must be welded by Reyes himself and the results recorded with position, thickness, backing, process and outcome.
Tell the PM the shift-change savings is not worth overhead welding on a vertical-only ticket. An unqualified weld is a nonconformance and the disposition is removal, not paperwork.
3. Your audit finds the register holds only the original test report and no ongoing production evidence. What do you do?
Read the worked answer
Continuity is the employer's obligation and the burden of proof sits with the fabricator, not with the inspector's memory.
- Pull objective evidence: weld maps, stamp logs, daily production sheets, time cards tied to work orders, visual or NDT reports naming the welder.
- If the evidence shows SMAW use inside six months, annotate the register with the evidence references, sign and date it.
- If the evidence is missing or inconclusive, treat the qualification as lapsed and requalify before Monday. One test plate is cheaper than reworking a CJP joint in 1-1/2 in plate.
- Fix the system: each register entry should carry periodic continuity entries, for example a monthly review signed by QC, not just the initial test report.
Record the finding and the disposition. This is exactly the record a project auditor or owner's representative will pull first.