ISO 9606welder qualification.

Hire a welding contractor for a ship and you usually get a stack of paper: welder qualifications to ISO 9606, welding procedure specifications, a letter appointing the welding coordinator. This article explains what these records say, how long they are valid and what to look for.

It is written for buyers, project managers and superintendents at shipyards and owners. The standards themselves are paywalled. Where we rely on technical sources rather than the text of a standard, the source list says so.

01What does ISO 9606-1 cover?

ISO 9606-1 sets the requirements for qualification testing of welders for fusion welding of steels. It covers manual and partly mechanised welding, not fully mechanised or automated welding¹. Operators of those systems are qualified to ISO 14732 instead²⁶.

The aim is that a welder qualification is accepted the same way regardless of product, location and examiner. The emphasis is on the welder's manual skill: handling the electrode or torch so that the weld is of acceptable quality¹.

There is a common mistake about the edition. Internationally, ISO 9606-1:2012 applies, with two corrigenda¹. In Europe it was published as EN ISO 9606-1:2017, in Germany as DIN EN ISO 9606-1:2017-12². There is no "ISO 9606-1:2017". Aluminium has its own part, ISO 9606-2⁹.

02What is on a welder qualification certificate?

Above all, the range of qualification. It defines which work the welder may do with this test. The standard sets it through essential variables³:

• welding process, given as a reference number to ISO 4063
• product type: plate or pipe
• type of weld: butt or fillet
• filler material group and type
• dimensions: thickness and pipe diameter
• welding position
• weld details

Since the change from EN 287-1 to ISO 9606-1 the qualification is no longer based on the parent metal but on the filler material, with similar fillers grouped as FM1, FM2 and so on⁴. Which thicknesses, diameters and positions a given test covers is set out in the tables of the standard. The rules are not always intuitive, so when in doubt, look them up rather than guess.

The process numbers come from ISO 4063, current edition 2023¹⁰. The processes Nauticon works with:

In practice the certificate has to match the job that is actually planned. A welder who is to make a vertical fillet weld with flux-cored wire needs a test that covers the process, weld type and position of that weld.

03How long is a welder qualification valid?

It depends on two things: the confirmation every six months and the route used to revalidate it.

The qualification has to be confirmed every six months by the person responsible for welding activities or by the examiner or examining body. Without that confirmation the certificate becomes invalid⁵. The signature confirms that the welder has worked within the range of qualification during that time⁶. According to European Accreditation, it is the employer's responsibility to validate its welders' qualifications⁵.

For revalidation, clause 9.3 of the standard offers three routes^4,6:

1. Retest every three years.
2. Every two years, test two welds. The welds must have been made in the last six months and be tested by radiography, ultrasonic or destructive testing, with records kept.
3. Unlimited, if the welder works for the same manufacturer, whose quality system is verified to ISO 3834-2 or -3, and the manufacturer documents that the welder has produced welds of acceptable quality.

The third route has a catch. European Accreditation considers it incompatible with the rules for certification of persons; accredited certification bodies should exclude it or state the exclusion on the certificate⁷. The UK committee for the standard prefers routes a) and b) for regularly verifying a welder's skill⁸.

04What does welding coordination to ISO 14731 do?

ISO 14731 identifies the quality-related tasks and responsibilities in welding and who is in charge of them. Welding coordination personnel must be competent for the tasks allocated to them and are appointed by the manufacturer¹¹.

The tasks are listed in normative Annex B, twenty in total^27,28. They include review of requirements, sub-contracting, welding personnel, qualification of procedures, welding procedure specifications, inspection before, during and after welding, non-conformance, traceability and quality records.

The standard knows three levels of knowledge: comprehensive, specific and basic. Which level is needed depends on the nature and complexity of the work. The 2019 edition removed the informative reference to IIW diplomas and the term "responsible welding coordinator"¹². IIW maps its own diplomas: the International Welding Engineer (IWE) to the comprehensive level, the International Welding Technologist (IWT) to specific and the International Welding Specialist (IWS) to basic¹³.

The standard itself does not require a particular certificate for welding coordinators; regulations, application standards or contracts can set their own requirements¹¹. Coordinators must demonstrate competence for their tasks, and the appointment applies to the specific company; with a new employer, competence is assessed again¹⁴. At Nauticon this is our welding engineer (IWE) Şükrü Öztürk.

One task in Annex B concerns buyers directly: the list includes sub-contracting²⁷. Companies that work to ISO 14731 themselves use their own welding coordinator to check that a contractor meets the requirements.

05What is a WPS, and how is a procedure qualified?

The welding procedure specification (WPS) states how a particular weld is made. Its content for arc welding is set by ISO 15609-1¹⁶.

Before a WPS may be used in production, the procedure must be qualified. ISO 15607 names five routes: welding procedure test, tested consumables, previous welding experience, standard welding procedure and pre-production welding test¹⁵. For steel this is, for example, a procedure test to ISO 15614-1, which applies to production, repair and build-up welding¹⁷.

In short:

1. The manufacturer writes a preliminary WPS (pWPS).
2. A test piece is welded to it and tested non-destructively and destructively.
3. Results and range of qualification are recorded in the WPQR (welding procedure qualification record).
4. Production WPSs are written on that basis.

ISO 15614-1:2017 has two test levels. Level 2 has more testing and narrower ranges and also covers level 1¹⁸. The level should be stated in the contract. Qualification by tested consumables to ISO 15610 is narrow: it applies only to certain material groups and thicknesses and is excluded where, for example, impact toughness, preheat or post-weld heat treatment are required¹⁹.

06What do classification societies require?

Shipbuilding adds the rules of class. IACS UR W32 is the qualification scheme for welders of hull structural steels; Rev. 1 of September 2020 is current²⁰. UR W28 covers welding procedure tests for hull steels. Rev. 2 applies until the end of 2026, Rev. 3 enters into force on 1 January 2027²². Lloyd's Register adopts it on that date and states that WPSs and procedure records made and accepted by LR under earlier rules remain valid within their range²³.

The Indian Register of Shipping, for example, implements W32 with the same three revalidation routes as ISO 9606-1. For route b) the two welds must reproduce the initial test conditions, except for thickness²¹. Whether a society accepts welder qualifications to other standards is its own decision; IRS does so at its discretion where the standard is technically equivalent²¹. For class work, agree beforehand which records the society wants to see.

07What is ISO 3834, and what is it not?

ISO 3834 sets quality requirements for fusion welding at the manufacturer, in three levels: part 2 comprehensive, part 3 standard, part 4 elementary. It is explicitly not a complete quality management system like ISO 9001²⁴.

The three standards are often mixed up. In short: ISO 9606 qualifies people, ISO 14731 describes the tasks of welding coordination, ISO 3834 sets quality requirements for the manufacturer. Neither of the first two is a company certificate.

08Checklist: which records should you ask for?

We have not found a freely available checklist from a welding institute, inspection body or class. The standards suggest this order:

1. Welder qualifications for every welder on the job: ISO 9606-1 for steel, ISO 9606-2 for aluminium.
2. Range against the job: process, plate or pipe, weld type, filler, thickness, position.
3. Six-monthly confirmations complete and signed.
4. Revalidation route and date. For route b) ask for the test reports, for route c) for the ISO 3834 evidence.
5. WPS for the actual job and the underlying qualification, usually a WPQR to ISO 15614-1.
6. Appointed welding coordinator to ISO 14731 at a suitable level.
7. NDT personnel qualified and certified to ISO 9712:2021²⁵.
8. For class work: confirmation that the society accepts the records.

09Summary

A welder qualification is not a permanent pass. It applies to a defined range and only as long as it is confirmed every six months and revalidated in time. Together with a qualified procedure and an appointed welding coordinator it gives a complete picture.

At Nauticon, welders qualified to EN ISO 9606 work with processes 111, 131, 135, 136, 138 and 141, under welding coordination to EN ISO 14731 and with procedure qualifications to EN ISO 15614. We send the records on request before mobilisation.