WELDING DOCUMENTATION, EXPLAINED

ISO 3834-2

The international standard for quality requirements in fusion welding of metallic materials. Unlike EN 1090, ISO 3834-2 is not a European standard alone, it is recognised globally and used alongside local codes such as AWS or ASME in the US. It sets requirements for how a company plans, executes and documents welding work, from welder certificates to WPS and material certificates. Many customers in offshore, pharma and process industries require ISO 3834-2 certification before they will even accept a bid.

EN 1090

The European standard for the execution of steel structures, covering welding requirements, CE marking and production control. Relevant for companies delivering load bearing steel structures into the EU, where documenting the welding process is a prerequisite for CE marking. EN 1090 is an EU product requirement, not a global standard, so projects outside Europe apply different but related codes, see AWS D1.1, CSA W47.1/W59 and AS/NZS 1554 below.

ISO 15614

The international standard for qualifying welding procedures, most widely used in Europe. It ensures a welding procedure consistently produces joints with the required mechanical properties before that procedure is used in production. Its closest US counterpart is ASME Section IX, with one key practical difference: under ASME IX the manufacturer can self certify the procedure qualification record, while ISO 15614 requires an independent examiner to countersign it.

ISO 9606

The international standard for qualifying welders, sister standard to ISO 15614. Where ISO 15614 qualifies the procedure, ISO 9606 qualifies the person, their practical skill within a defined range of materials, thicknesses and positions.

ASME IX

The American standard for qualifying welding procedures and welders for pressure retaining equipment, including piping, boilers and pressure vessels. ASME IX plays the same role in the US that ISO 15614 and ISO 9606 play in Europe, but allows manufacturer self certification rather than requiring an independent examiner. Relevant for SOCWeld customers in pipe welding and process industry supplying the US market.

ASME BPE

The American standard specifically for bioprocessing equipment, covering the design, materials, and surface finish requirements used in pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing systems. Where ISO 3834 and ASME IX cover welding quality in general, ASME BPE adds requirements specific to hygienic and sterile process equipment, directly relevant to pharma customers on the US market.

DGRL 2014/68/EU

The EU Pressure Equipment Directive. It sets the essential safety requirements for pressure equipment sold within the EU, including a requirement that permanent joints, welding among them, are made using qualified procedures and qualified personnel. For higher risk equipment categories, a notified body must be involved in the conformity assessment.

NORSOK M-601

The Norwegian standard for welding and inspection of piping, developed for the offshore oil and gas industry on the Norwegian continental shelf. It is stricter than many general welding codes in several areas and is commonly required by operators and EPC contractors working offshore in Norway, directly relevant to SOCWeld's maritime and offshore customers.

EN 13480

The European standard for industrial piping, covering design, manufacturing, testing and inspection, including the welding requirements that apply specifically to piping systems rather than structural steel or pressure vessels.

AWS D1.1 (USA)

The American counterpart to EN 1090 for load bearing steel structures, published by the American Welding Society. AWS D1.1 combines welder qualification, WPS qualification and inspection acceptance criteria into a single code. Where EN 1090 is an EU legal requirement tied to CE marking, AWS D1.1 is a code called up directly in a contract, typically by a US owner, engineer or authority. A European supplier bidding on a US project will often need welders and procedures qualified to AWS D1.1 specifically, even where their domestic work runs to ISO 9606 and ISO 15614.

CSA W47.1 / W59 (Canada)

The Canadian counterpart to EN 1090 and AWS D1.1. CSA W59 sets the technical requirements for welding steel structures, while CSA W47.1 certifies that the fabricating company has the systems and qualified people in place to meet them, a similar split to EN 1090 (execution) and third party certification. W47.1/W59 is a legal requirement for steel structures in Canada, administered by the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB). A European supplier with ISO 3834-2 certification typically has a head start, but still needs to qualify specifically to CSA standards for a Canadian project.

AS/NZS 1554 (Australia and New Zealand)

The joint Australian and New Zealand standard for welding steel structures, with several parts depending on application, for example AS/NZS 1554.1 for general steel structures and AS/NZS 1554.3 for wind turbine towers. Australia and New Zealand also use AS/NZS ISO 3834, the local adoption of the international ISO 3834 standard, often alongside AS/NZS 1554. Relevant for SOCWeld customers with projects or suppliers in the region, particularly in wind energy, one of SOCWeld's defined industries.

WPS (Welding Procedure Specification)

A document describing exactly how a given weld must be carried out, materials, current, preheat, welding position and more, so the weld meets the required standard. A WPS must be qualified, tested and approved, before it can be used in production.

WPQR (Welding Procedure Qualification Record)

The record produced when a WPS is qualified, documenting the actual test results, mechanical tests and inspection results, that prove the procedure meets the required standard. The WPQR is the evidence behind the WPS.

Rückverfolgbarkeit

The ability to follow a material or a weld through its full history, from the original material certificate, through the welder who performed the work, to the final inspection. Full traceability means that for any given weld you can answer: which material, which welder, which procedure, which inspection.

Audit trail

A logged history of who did what, and when, within a documentation system. A proper audit trail shows not just the current status but the full path leading up to it, with nothing deleted or overwritten along the way. This is what an inspector or authority is actually testing for when they check whether your documentation holds up.

NDT / NDE (Non-Destructive Testing / Examination)

Inspection methods used to check a weld without destroying it, for example radiographic testing (RT), ultrasonic testing (UT), penetrant testing (PT) or magnetic particle testing (MT). The results of these inspections form a permanent part of a project's welding documentation.

GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)

A set of regulatory requirements, most commonly associated with the pharmaceutical and food industries, that governs quality management, traceability and documentation throughout production. For a welding supplier delivering into pharma, GMP means documentation must not only be correct, it must be provable as correct, with full traceability and a digitally signed approval chain.

GXP

The umbrella term for the various "Good [x] Practice" frameworks in pharma and life sciences, including GMP (manufacturing), GCP (clinical trials) and GLP (laboratories). When a pharma customer talks about GXP requirements, they typically mean the overarching expectation of documentation, traceability and data quality that runs across all of these frameworks.

ALCOA+

A set of ten principles regulators use to judge whether data in a GXP regulated business can be trusted. The name is an acronym:

• Attributable: it must be clear who performed a given action, and when.
• Legible: data must be readable and understandable, including years later.
• Contemporaneous: data must be recorded at the time the action happens, not reconstructed afterwards.
• Original: the first, unaltered record, or a verified true copy.
• Accurate: data must reflect what actually happened.
• Complete: nothing missing, including repeats or rework.
• Consistent: data must follow the same format and structure across time, people and systems.
• Enduring: data must remain findable and usable long after it was created.
• Available: data must be producible when a regulator or customer asks for it.
• Traceable: data must be traceable back to its source and through its full lifecycle.

For a welding supplier in pharma, ALCOA+ means in practice that every single weld must be documented in a way that satisfies all ten principles, not just that the paperwork exists somewhere. See how your own documentation scores against these principles.