Qualified versus certified welder: Main differences

Q: While browsing the AWS website I found listings for accredited test facilities. After a little more digging, I found AWS QC4-89, the standard for accreditation of test facilities. I was of the understanding that my endorsement as a certified welding inspector (CWI) permitted me to certify welders to the standards laid out in D1.1. Am I to understand that as a school, we need accreditation in order to send welders out the door with a certification? If not, what is the accreditation good for, besides marketing?

Qualified Versus Certified

A: You’re getting the terms qualified and certified all cobbled together.

You may have been a qualified welding inspector—meaning you had the required skills. Once a third party evaluated those skills, you became a certified welding inspector to QC-1.

Similarly, I may be a qualified welder, but once someone evaluated my skills against a standard and found that I met that standard, I became a certified welder.

Certified Welders, Certified Facilities

The AWS runs a certified welder program, much like its CWI or certified welding educator (CWE) programs. To run a program like that, the AWS needs facilities around the country to perform the necessary weld testing. To maintain the program’s integrity, the organization developed a program to certify a facility as well. There are guidelines and other requirements your facility would need to meet to become an AWS-certified test facility.

You can still administer welder qualification tests even if your facility is not an accredited one, but those welders would be qualified per AWS D1.1, not AWS certified welders. There is a difference. If a welder takes a test at your facility or at his/her employer’s, those test results are not transferable from one employer to the next. That welder’s qualifications/certifications are the property and responsibility of the company. A welder who goes through the steps of becoming an AWS certified welder keeps that certification, and that certification is portable.