This standard identifies the competences you need to carry out quality checks on welded components/structural units, in accordance with approved procedures. You will be required to use appropriate drawings, specifications and quality assurance documentation during the inspection activities. You will be required to select the appropriate inspection equipment, based on the features to be checked and the accuracy to be measured. This will involve checking that the appropriate equipment is within current test dates and, where necessary, setting up and validating the equipment, ready for the inspection operations to be performed.

In carrying out the inspection activities, you will be expected to check the welds for both dimensional accuracy and for visual weld quality, and this may be required to be undertaken at various stages of manufacture, such as before welding, intermediate and after welding. Before welding takes place, you will check that the materials to be fabricated are in the specified state and condition, and that the set-up arrangements for welding are correct. Inspection during manufacture will check that welding activities are proceeding in accordance with the welding procedure specification and good practice. On completion of welding and fabrication activities, you will be expected to visually inspect the welded joints against the acceptance criteria, and to check that dimensions and distortion are within specified tolerances. You will be required to mark any areas where non-compliance exists, and to record the results of the inspection using the approved documentation process.

Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the quality assurance activities, seeking out relevant information for the activities undertaken, and to report any problems with the inspection equipment or checking activities that you cannot personally resolve, or that are outside your personal authority, to the relevant people. You will be expected to work with a minimum of supervision, taking personal responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.

Your underpinning knowledge will provide a good understanding of your work, and will provide an informed approach to applying quality inspection procedures to welded products. You will understand the quality assurance process and its application, and will know about the equipment and inspection techniques, in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the activities to the required specification.

You will understand the safety precautions required when working with welded components, and the safeguards necessary for undertaking the activities safely and correctly. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices and procedures throughout, and will understand the responsibilities you owe to yourself and others in the workplace.

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1. work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
2. follow the correct specification for the product or equipment being inspected
3. use the correct equipment to carry out the inspection
4. identify and confirm the inspection checks to be made and acceptance criteria to be used
5. carry out all required inspections as specified
6. identify any defects or variations from the specification
7. record the results and complete the inspection documentation in the appropriate format
8. deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control and report those that cannot be solved

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1. the specific safety precautions to be taken when inspecting welded components/structures (such as specific legislation or regulations governing the activities or work area, safe working practices and procedures to be adopted, general workshop safety practice, risk assessment procedures and relevant requirements of HASAWA, COSHH and Work Equipment Regulations)
2. the personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) that should be worn (such as leather gloves, eye protection, ear protection, safety harness)
3. the hazards associated with inspecting welded components/structures (such as working at height, safety in enclosed/confined spaces, handling welded components/structures, slips, trips and falls), and how they can be minimised
4. the welding processes being used, and their technology (such as basic principles of fusion welding, AC and DC power sources, power ranges, manual metal arc (MMA), MIG, MAG or flux cored-wire arc welding, tungsten arc welding (TIG), submerged arc, oxy/fuel gas and plasma welding, electron beam, resistance welding, laser and friction welding and other relevant fusion welding processes)
5. materials and their behaviour during welding (such as structure and property of metals; heat treatment requirements; types of steel and cracking phenomena, cast iron, copper, nickel, stainless steel, aluminium and their alloys; joining dissimilar materials)
6. construction and design of welded joints (such as design principles of welded construction, joint design, behaviour of welded structures under static and dynamic loading)
7. general principles of welding components and structures (such as use of jigs, fixtures and manipulating devices; residual stresses and distortion; types of defect and their avoidance; quality control during manufacture)
8. how and where to obtain the required drawings and related specifications, and how to check that they are current and complete
9. extracting information required from drawings and welding procedure specifications (such as interpretation of welding symbols; scope, content and application of the welding procedure specification) to include symbols and conventions to appropriate British, European or relevant International standards in relation to work undertaken
10. types and features of welded joints in plate, tube and sections (including fillet and butt welds, single and multi-run welds, welding positions, weld quality)
11. the use of British, European, international and client standards in determining if welded fabrications are fit for purpose
12. the general principles of quality assurance systems and procedures
13. preparations to be undertaken before the welded fabrications are inspected (such as access to welded area, cleanliness and physical condition of welded area)
14. the visual and dimensional inspection methods and techniques that are used for welded components/structures
15. the equipment that is used to carry out the various inspection checks (such as rules and tapes, weld measuring gauge, borescope, optical aids (such as magnifying glass and mirror), CCTV viewing system)
16. the items to be checked prior to welding the components/structures (such as joint preparation, joint setup, parent metal condition, condition of consumables, equipment settings)
17. the features of the welded joints that must be checked (such as linearity or profile, weld root run, inter-runs, final dimensional tolerances, distortion, shrinkage, visual appearance of welds, excess weld metal, undercut, penetration and profile)
18. how to calculate allowances for weld gaps and weld shrinkage, in order to attain overall global tolerances
19. acceptance criteria to be used, and the influence of defects on the service performance of the welded components/structures (including risks and consequences of failure)
20. the importance of carrying out the checks and recording the results in the appropriate documentation
21. the procedure to be followed when inspected products are out of specification
22. the importance of completing inspection documentation; what must be recorded, and where records are kept
23. the extent of your own responsibility and to whom you should report if you have problems that you cannot resolve

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1. Carry out all of the following during the inspection process:

   1. observe all the required safety procedures for the work area/activity
   2. obtain and use the correct issue of drawings, job instructions and welding procedure specifications
   3. obtain and check the condition and calibration dates of tools, measuring instruments and equipment used
   4. follow specified or appropriate inspection procedures
   5. identify and record out-of-specification features, in the appropriate format
   6. mark and identify areas where non-compliance with specification or defect indications are found
   7. leave the work area in a safe and tidy condition on completion of the inspection activities

2. Ensure that you have the required inspection equipment and that it is in good working order, to include six of the following, as appropriate to the operation/features being checked:

   1. weld measuring gauge                                     
   2. CCTV viewing system
   3. rule, tape or other linear measuring device          
   4. magnifying glass
   5. adjustable square/protractor                               
   6. mirror
   7. depth gauge                                                          
   8. portable lighting
   9. borescope                                                             
   10. means of marking defective areas
   11. roughness measuring equipment
   12. other specific equipment

3. Carry out specified prefabrication or sub-assembly inspection checks, to include all of the following:

   1. checking the condition of joint preparations
   2. welded joint preparation dimensions
   3. flatness or profile of sheets or plates, and linearity of sections
   4. set-up arrangements for welding
   5. condition of consumables

4. Carry out the inspection of two of the following types of welded fabrication/structure:

   1. fabricated frames                     
   2. pipe sections                      
   3. transition pieces
   4. structures                                
   5. cylindrical components       
   6. segmented bends
   7. square/rectangular tanks          
   8. conical components          
   9. modular components
   10. curved/profiled structures        
   11. tubular structures              
   12. other specific fabrications/structures

5. Carry out specified inspection during fabrication, to check all of the following:

   1. condition of weld root zone (where possible) and inter-runs      
   2. distortion and shrinkage
   3. cleanliness of weld faces and surfaces

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6. Carry out the specified final inspection checks, to include all of the following:

   1. overall dimensional tolerances                          
   2. visual appearance of welds/weld profile
   3. extent of distortion, shrinkage or misalignment    
   4. evidence of damage requiring restoration
   5. surface finish or roughness                                 
   6. freedom from arc strikes
   7. defect indications manifested on weld or parent metal surface
   8. extent of excess metal, undercut, penetration or lack of penetration

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7. Carry out the inspection checks to one or more of the following:

   1. approved construction drawings
   2. client specifications/detail drawings
   3. applicable national and international standards
   4. welding procedure specification

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8. Complete the inspection documentation, to include one from the following, and pass to the appropriate people:

   1. weld inspection report
   2. job card
   3. customer specific documentation
   4. concession report

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​Additional Information

You will be able to apply the appropriate behaviours required in the workplace to meet the job profile and overall company objectives, such as:

• strong work ethic
• positive attitude
• team player
• dependability
• responsibility
• honesty
• integrity
• motivation
• commitment

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3

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31 Mar 2020

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Current

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Original

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Semta

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SEMFWE3-65

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Engineering, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, Metal Forming, Welding and Related Trades

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5213

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fabrication; welding; inspecting welded components; inspecting welded structures; visual quality; dimensional accuracy; quality checks; inspection equipment; inspection operations; welding specification

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