Standards and qualification
WPS, WPQR, EN ISO 9606, EN 1090 — what a welder certificate actually covers.
The section about the paperwork that decides whether your weld counts. Three documents come up most often and they are routinely confused.
The WPS is the instruction for one joint: process, material, thickness, consumable, parameters, position, run sequence. The technologist issues it and the welder works to it. The WPQR is the report proving that instruction was tested to EN ISO 15614. The EN ISO 9606 certificate is a document about a person, not a procedure: it says which joints that welder is entitled to make.
The point to absorb early: a qualification does not license you to weld "anything". It defines a range — process, material group, thickness, diameter, position. Working outside that range means the joint was formally made by an unqualified welder, with everything that implies at handover.
All of it is European. EN ISO 9606-1 is a European standard, and a certificate from an accredited body in one member state is valid in the rest.
- WPS — procedure specification A WPS to EN ISO 15609-1 read field by field on a real example (135, S355, 10 mm), who signs it, why it has no expiry date and the audit findings that void it.
- pWPS — preliminary WPS How a pWPS differs from a WPS, where its numbers come from, who signs it, and why production must not be welded to it.
- WPQR — procedure qualification How a welding procedure is qualified: pWPS, test coupon, NDT and destructive tests, what the WPQR covers (thickness, position, heat input) and how long it is valid.
- Knowledge test: documents and standards Questions on the welding documents (pWPS, WPQR, WPS), ISO 6947 positions, current and process numbers. Checked in your browser, with a link to the page that answers each one.
- Test to EN ISO 9606 A 10 mm plate test covers 3–20 mm; the certificate lasts three years with a confirmation every six months. Test pieces, positions and examinations to ISO 9606-1.
- Qualifications in Poland EN ISO 9606 certificate, UDT exam or welder's book? What a welder needs to work in Poland, who issues each document, how long it takes, how foreign papers count.
- ISO 10042 quality levels for aluminium How ISO 10042 differs from ISO 5817: a surface pore is allowed at B (max 1 mm), continuous undercut is not, excess weld metal is capped at 6/8/10 mm. Table and example.
Frequently asked questions
How does a WPS differ from a welder qualification?
The WPS (backed by the WPQR that qualified it) is about the procedure, the certificate is about the person. The WPS says how a particular joint is to be welded: material, consumable, parameters, preheat. The certificate says that this welder can weld within a given range. Both are needed, every time.
How long is a welder certificate valid?
Three years, provided the employer confirms every six months that the welder has been working within the range. A missed confirmation ends it early, and that is the most common reason a certificate turns out to be invalid.
Is a certificate from one EU country valid in another?
Yes. EN ISO 9606-1 is a European standard and a certificate from an accredited body works across the Union. Procedure qualification and factory production control stay with the manufacturer and do not travel with the welder.