Welder Qualification Certificate & Testing

Welder qualification certificate testing and welding procedure qualification in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and across the UAE — independent witness, destructive and NDT testing, and certification to ASME IX, AWS D1.1, ISO 9606 and ISO 15614, with defined ranges of approval stated on every certificate. Last reviewed: August 2026.

A weld is only as sound as the procedure it was made to and the welder who made it. Both have to be qualified, they are qualified separately, and confusing the two is the most common reason a fabrication is rejected at audit.

Procedure qualification and welder qualification

• Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)The document telling the welder how to make the weld — process, material group, thickness, joint design, consumables, current, preheat, interpass and post-weld heat treatment. Written by the fabricator.
• Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)The evidence that a weld made to that procedure produces acceptable mechanical properties. A test coupon is welded, then subjected to destructive testing — tensile, bend, impact and macro examination as the code requires. The PQR qualifies the procedure, not any person.
• Welder Qualification Test (WQT)Testing that an individual welder can produce a sound weld working to a qualified procedure. This qualifies the person, within a defined range of approval, and must be held by every welder before they work on the fabrication.

The sequence matters: the procedure is qualified first, then welders are qualified to it. A welder certificate against an unqualified procedure demonstrates nothing to the client or auditor who asked for it.

Range of approval

A welder qualification certificate is not general. It covers a defined range — welding process, material group, thickness range, pipe diameter, welding position, joint type, backing and consumable classification. A welder qualified on 10 mm plate in the flat position is not thereby qualified for 25 mm pipe overhead. The range is stated explicitly on every certificate issued, because a certificate whose range is not checked against the work is a certificate that fails at audit.

Continuity and validity

Welder qualifications lapse. Most codes require the welder to have used the qualified welding process within a defined period — commonly six months — and continuity must be documented by the employer. A certificate in date on its face may be invalid because the welder has not worked in the process. We state the continuity requirement on every qualification issued and can verify existing continuity records as part of personnel assessment.

What testing involves

• Agreement of the test piece, position, material and procedure against the intended production range
• Independent witness of the welding itself, including consumable control and parameters
• Visual examination of the completed test piece
• Non-destructive examination where the code permits it in place of destructive testing
• Destructive testing — bend, tensile, fracture, macro and impact as the code requires — through accredited laboratories
• Assessment of results against the acceptance criteria of the governing code
• Issue of the welder qualification certificate stating the range of approval and validity conditions

Standards applied

• ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX — welding and brazing qualifications, for pressure equipment
• AWS D1.1 — structural welding code, steel
• ISO 9606 series — qualification testing of welders
• ISO 15614 series — specification and qualification of welding procedures
• API 1104 — welding of pipelines and related facilities
• Client and project specifications where these impose additional requirements

Independence

ITMAD witnesses, tests and certifies. We do not write your welding procedures, advise on your welding parameters, or train your welders to pass a test we will then assess. That separation is what makes the welder qualification certificate worth holding — a certificate from a body that also developed the procedure and coached the welder demonstrates nothing to the client or auditor who asked for it.

Accreditation

ITMAD is accredited to ISO/IEC 17020 as an inspection body, is an ADNOC approved inspection contractor, and is listed on the Abu Dhabi City Municipality register of Approved Third Party Inspection Bodies. Certificates are issued in the format required by the governing authority, including Dubai Municipality and the Dubai free zone authorities. Witnessing is carried out at your works or at a nominated test facility across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern Emirates, with destructive testing coordinated through accredited laboratories.

What you receive

• Welder qualification certificates stating the range of approval in full
• Procedure qualification records with test results and the qualified range
• Laboratory test reports supporting each qualification
• Statement of the continuity requirement and the expiry conditions
• A register of qualified welders and procedures, maintained where we hold it
• Notification ahead of qualifications lapsing