9/4/2018 Standards - application standards, codes of practice and quality levels - Job Knowledge 38

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Standards - application standards, codes of practice and quality levels

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Application standards and codes of practice ensure that a structure or component will have an acceptable level of quality and
be fit for the intended purpose.

In this document, the requirements for standards on welding procedure and welder approval are explained together with the
quality levels for imperfections. It should be noted that the term approval is used in European standards in the context of
both testing and documentation. The equivalent term in the ASME standard is qualification.

Production at Dennis
Application standards and codes vehicle manufacturers

There are essentially three types of standards which can be referenced in fabrication:

Application and design

Specification and approval of welding procedures
Approval of welders

There are also specific standards covering material specifications, consumables, welding equipment and health and safety. British Standards are used
to specify the requirements, for example, in approving a welding procedure, they are not a legal requirement but may be cited by the Regulatory
Authority as a means of satisfying the law. Health and Safety guidance documents and codes of practice may also recommend standards.

Codes of practice differ from standards in that they are intended to give recommendations and guidance, for example, on the validation of power
sources for welding. It is not intended that they should be used as a mandatory, or contractual documents.

Most fabricators will be working to one of the following:

Company or industry specific standards

National BS (British Standard)
European BS EN (British Standard European Standard)
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US AWS (American Welding Society) and ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
International ISO (International Standards Organisation)

Examples of application codes and standards and related welding procedure and welder/welding operator approval standards are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Examples of application codes and standards and related welding procedure, welder and welding operator approval standards

Welding standard
Application Application code/standard Procedure approval Welder approval
PD 5500
BS EN 287
BS EN 13445 series BS EN ISO 15614
Pressure Vessels BS EN ISO 9606
ASME B&PV Section III-NB (Nuclear) ASME B&PV Section IX
ASME B&PV Section IX
ASME B&PV Section VIII
BS EN ISO 15614

BS 2633 BS EN 287
BS 4677 ASME B&PV Section I BS EN ISO 9606
Process Pipework ANSI/ASME B31.1 ASME IX
ANSI/ASME B31.3 BS EN ISO 15614-1 ASME IX
BS 2971 BS 4872/BS EN 287
(if required)

AWS D1.1 AWS D1.1 AWS D1.1

AWS D1.2 AWS D1.2 AWS D1.2
Structural Fabrication AWS D1.6 AWS D1.6 BS EN 287
BS EN 1011 BS EN ISO 15614-1 BS EN ISO 9606-2
BS 8118 BS EN ISO 15614-2 BS 4872
BS EN 14015 BS EN ISO 15614-1, -2 BS EN 287
Storage Tanks BS EN 12285 BS EN ISO 15614-1, -2 BS EN ISO 9606-2
API 620/650 ASME IX ASME IX

Note 1: Reference should be made to the application codes/standards for any additional requirements to those specified in BS EN 287, BS EN ISO
15614, BS EN ISO 9606 and ASME IX.

Note 2: Some BS Standards have not been revised to include the new BS EN standards: BS EN 287/9606 and BS EN ISO 15614 should be substituted
as appropriate, for BS 4871 and BS 4870, respectively, which have been withdrawn.

Note 3: Compliance with the BS EN 13445 series can be used to demonstrate compliance with the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED). Other
standards are also acceptable for compliance with the PED, but only provided they take into account the Essential Safety Requirements stated in the
PED (ESRs).

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In European countries, national standards are being replaced by EN standards. However, when there is no equivalent EN standard, the National
standard can be used. For example, BS EN 287/9606 replace BS 4871 but BS 4872 remains as a valid standard.

Approval of welding procedures and welders

An application standard or code of practice will include requirements or guidelines on material, design of joint, welding process, welding procedure,
welder qualification and inspection or may invoke other standards, for example for welding procedure and welder approval tests. The manufacturer will
normally be required to approve the welding procedure and welder qualification. The difference between a welding procedure approval and a welder
qualification test is as follows:

The welding procedure approval test is carried out by a competent welder and the quality of the weld is assessed using non-destructive and
mechanical testing techniques. The intention is to demonstrate that the proposed welding procedure will produce a welded joint which will satisfy
the specified requirements of weld quality and mechanical properties.
The welder approval test examines a welder's skill and ability in producing a satisfactory test weld. The test may be performed with or without a
qualified welding procedure (note, without an approved welding procedure the welding parameters must be recorded).

The requirements for approvals are determined by the relevant application standard or as a condition of contract (Table 1).

BS EN 287, BS ISO EN 9606 and ASME Section IX would be appropriate for welders on high quality work such as pressure vessels, pressure vessel
piping and offshore structures and other products where the consequences of failure, stress levels and complexity mean that a high level of welded
joint integrity is essential. In less demanding situations, such as small to medium building frames and general light structural and non- structural work,
an approved welding procedure may not be necessary. However, to ensure an adequate level of skill, it is recommended that the welder be approved
to a less stringent standard e.g. BS 4872.

'Coded welder' is often used to denote an approved welder but the term is not recognised in any of the standards. However, it is used in the workplace
to describe those welders whose skill and technical competence have been approved to the requirements of an appropriate standard.

Quality Acceptance Levels for Welding Procedure and Welder Approval Tests

When welding to application standards and codes, consideration must be given to the imperfection acceptance criteria which must be satisfied. Some
standards contain an appropriate section relating to the acceptance levels while others make use of a separate standard. For example, in welding
procedure and welder approval tests to BS EN ISO 15614-1 and BS EN ISO 287 Pt1, respectively, reference is made to BS EN ISO 5817. It is
important to note that the application standard may specify more stringent imperfection acceptance levels and/or require additional tests to be carried
out as part of the welding procedure approval test. For example, for joints which must operate at high temperatures, elevated temperature tensile test
may be required whereas for low temperature applications, impact or CTOD tests may be specified.

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Guidance on permissible levels of imperfections in arc welded joints in steel are given in BS EN ISO 5817. Production quality, but not fitness-for-
purpose, is defined in terms of three levels of quality for imperfections:

Moderate - Level D
Intermediate- Level C
Stringent - Level B

The standard applies to most arc welding processes and covers imperfections such as cracks, porosity, inclusions, poor bead geometry, lack of
penetration and misalignment.

As the quality levels are related to the types of welded joint and not to a particular component, they can be applied to most applications for procedure
and welder approval. The quality levels which are the most appropriate for production joints will be determined by the relevant application standard
which may cover design considerations, mode of stressing (e.g. static, dynamic), service conditions (e.g. temperature, environment) and
consequences of failure.

When working to the European Standards, the welding procedure, or the welder, will be qualified if the imperfections in the test piece are within the
specified limits of Level B except for excess weld metal, excess convexity, excess throat thickness and excess penetration type imperfections when
Level C will apply.

Guidance levels for aluminium joints are given in BS EN ISO 10042.

For the American standards ASME Section IX and AWS D1.1, the acceptance levels are contained in the standard. Application codes may specify more
stringent imperfection acceptance levels and/or additional tests.

Relevant Standards

American Welding Society, Structural Welding Code, AWS D1.1

ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX: Welding Qualifications
BS 4872 Approval Testing of Welders when Welding Procedure Approval is not Required
BS EN 287-1:2011 Qualification test of welders - fusion welding - Part 1: steels
BS EN ISO 9606-2:2004 Qualification test of welders. Fusion welding - Part 2: aluminium and aluminium alloys.
BS EN ISO 15614-1:2004+ A2:2012 Specification and qualification of welding procedures for metallic materials. Welding procedure test.
BS EN ISO 5817:2007 Welding - fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys (beam welding excluded) - Quality levels for
imperfections
BS EN ISO 6520-1:2007 Welding and allied processes - Classification of geometric imperfections in metallic materials
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BS EN ISO 10042:2005 Welding - Arc welded joints in aluminium and its alloys - Quality levels for imperfections

Bill Lucas prepared the information in this article in collaboration with Oliver Smith, John Weston and Gene Mathers.

This Job Knowledge article was originally published in Connect, November/December 1998. It has been updated so the web page no longer reflects
exactly the printed version.

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