Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance (WCQA)
Welding coordination
ISO 14731 frames coordination as a set of defined tasks held by a competent person: contract and technical review, material suitability, consumable selection and control, equipment suitability, qualification of procedures and personnel, production planning, inspection and testing planning, handling of nonconformities, calibration, health and safety, and records. The responsibility must be assigned in writing and can only be delegated to someone equally competent (e.g. IWS/IWT/IWE or assessed equivalent experience).
Trap: coordination is a management/technical function, not an inspection activity. Holding an inspector certificate does not by itself satisfy 14731, and the coordinator is not automatically the person who accepts welds.
Quality assurance in practice
A quality plan or inspection and test plan (ITP) sets the sequence of activities and the intervention points. Distinguish them carefully: a hold point means work cannot proceed until the nominated party has been notified and has approved; a witness point means the party is notified but work may proceed if they do not attend.
Other core controls: document and revision control (one approved WPS revision at the point of use, matching the current drawing revision); a WPS and welder register; traceability of base metal and consumables; consumable storage, baking and issue; calibration of welding and measuring instruments (ammeters, voltmeters, thermocouples, flowmeters); nonconformance reports with disposition, root cause and corrective action; internal audits; records retention.
Rule of thumb: before any arc is struck, the point of use should show exactly one current approved WPS, the correct drawing revision, calibrated equipment, and a welder in continuity for that WPS's essential variables.
Trap: client or third-party approval of a document does not relieve the manufacturer of contractual and technical responsibility.