Class A Syllabus

The class A pressure welder certificate of qualification test shall be carried out at a recognized test administrator location approved by Technical Safety BC. The testing shall be conducted and administered by a safety officer who will complete the examination record and enter the test results in the Industry Training Authority Welder’s Log Book upon successful completion of the test.

Note: A list of the recognized test administrators are on the Technical Safety BC website. All equipment used for testing must be of known calibration and a bend test jig in accordance with ASME Section IX must be available. All equipment must be acceptable to the safety officer administering the test.

The following procedure outlines the manner in which the class A certificate of qualification test will be administered by Technical Safety BC safety officer.

The test coupon will be a 6 inch diameter schedule 80 carbon steel (P1 material) seamless pipe and prepared with a 32 degree bevel to a feather edge.

One-quarter (1/4) of the coupon circumference will be welded in the 2G position and the remaining portion in the 5G position.

The electrodes used for the test shall be E-6010 (1/8” diameter) for the root pass and E-7018 (3/32” & 1/8” diameters) for the hot pass, fill and cap passes using the SMAW process.

Alternatively, the test coupon can be welded with an ER70S-2 (3/32” or 1/8” diameter) filler metal using the GTAW process with an SFA 5.12 classified tungsten electrode (3/32” or 1/8” diameter), 100% Argon shielding gas and no backing gas for the root pass. An E-7018 (3/32” & 1/8” diameters) electrode using the SMAW process shall be used for the hot pass, fill and cap passes.

Candidates will have 3.5 hours to prepare, tack, and weld the test coupons and one hour to prepare the bend specimens.

The performance test may be terminated at any stage of review, if the candidate does not have the required skill to produce satisfactory results or is taking an excessive length of time to complete any phase of the test.

When preparing test coupons for tacking, the size of the root face (land), and the width of the root gap (spacing) shall be at the candidates’ discretion. Four tack welds are to be made using the SMAW process with an E-6010 electrode or the GTAW process using an ER70S-2 filler metal and should be approximately ½” to ¾” in length. All tack welds shall be of good quality, as they are considered part of the weld. After tacking the coupon, candidates may feather the tack.

After the candidate completes tacking of the coupon, they will present it to the safety officer for evaluation. The safety officer will evaluate the quality of the tack welds and then mark the portion of the coupon that is to be welded in the 2G (horizontal) position with the remainder to be used for the 5G position weld.

After the safety officer’s examination, the coupon is positioned for welding in the 2G position. The candidate will then weld the horizontal (2G) root pass, using the SMAW process with an E-6010 electrode or the GTAW process using an ER70S-2 filler metal with the pipe axis in the vertical plane. When the candidate completes the 2G root pass, the coupon shall remain in the positioner and the weld shall be visually inspected by the safety officer. The root pass shall be of uniform width and the penetration shall be at least flush with a maximum reinforcement not exceeding 1/8” and free of any undercut, grapes, lack of fusion or porosity.

Providing the 2G root pass is acceptable, the coupon shall then be placed in the 5G position (pipe axis in the horizontal plane) with one end of the completed 2G root placed at the top (12:00). The safety officer will mark the position and height of the coupon. Once the coupon is positioned for welding, the marked coupon and positioner shall not be moved. The candidate will then weld the 5G portion of the root pass using the SMAW process with an E-6010 electrode with an upward progression or the GTAW process using an ER70S-2 filler metal with an upward progression. The coupon shall remain in the positioner and the weld shall be visually inspected by the safety officer upon completion of the 5G root pass. The root pass shall be of uniform width and the penetration shall be at least flush with a maximum reinforcement not exceeding 1/8” and free of any undercut, grapes, lack of fusion or porosity.

If the root pass is acceptable to the safety officer, the candidate shall complete the hot pass, fill and cap passes of the 5G weld using the SMAW process with an E-7018 electrode with an upward progression and weave method. The coupon shall remain in the positioner and the weld shall be visually inspected by the safety officer upon completion of the 5G hot pass, fill and cap passes. The cap shall be of uniform width, at least flush with a maximum reinforcement not exceeding 1/8” and free of any undercut, grapes, lack of fusion, porosity or arc strikes.

If the 5G hot pass, fill and cap passes are acceptable to the safety officer, the coupon will then be repositioned (axis in vertical plane) to complete the 2G position hot pass, fill and cap using an E-7018 electrode using a stringer bead method. The coupon shall remain in the positioner and the weld shall be visually inspected by the safety officer upon completion of the 2G hot pass, fill and cap passes. The cap shall be of uniform width, at least flush with a maximum reinforcement not exceeding 1/8” and free of any undercut, grapes, lack of fusion, porosity or arc strikes.

Four face bend and four root bend test specimens are required for this combined position. Test specimens will be marked on the coupon by the safety officer as per the following sketch. The specimens should be approximately 1.5” in width and ground flush on both sides with edges de-burred. Candidates may radius the corners of the specimens to 1/8” maximum.

Excessive grinding that reduces the thickness of the specimens below the nominal thickness (on either side) shall result in the test being considered as a failure.

F1=Face Bend (Horizontal)

R2=Root Bend (Horizontal)

F3=Face Bend (Overhead)

R4=Root Bend (Overhead)

F5=Face Bend (Vertical)

R6=Root Bend (Vertical)

F7=Face Bend (Flat)

R8=Root Bend (Flat)

Each bend test specimen shall be die stamped by the Safety Officer for positive identification of the bend test specimen removal location in accordance with the above diagram. In addition, the safety officer shall stamp each bend test specimen with a “test identification” number identifying the welder who welded the test coupon.

The guided bend tests shall have no open discontinuity in the weld or heat affected zone exceeding 1/8” measured in any direction on the convex surface of the specimen. Open defects occurring on the corners of the specimen during bending shall not be considered unless there is evidence that they result from slag inclusions, lack of fusion, or other internal defects.

The failure of any bend specimen shall be considered a failed exam.

Candidates who successfully complete the examination shall be issued an examination record which will act as a temporary qualification until the formal pressure welder certificate of qualification is issued. Candidates who are not successful, will be required to re-apply for a new examination 30 days after the previous examination.

The class A pressure welder certificate of qualification test shall not be used for production pressure welding.

When the candidate has received their class A pressure welder certificate of qualification examination record from the safety officer they will then be eligible to complete additional performance qualification tests based on any welding procedure specification registered with Technical Safety BC for any welding process.

A current class A pressure welder certificate of qualification must be available at the job site where pressure welding is being performed in addition to the Industry Training Authority Welders Log Book and QW 484 test records. The continuity section of the Welders Log Book must be current in accordance with the requirements of ASME Section IX for the applicable welding process.

Reference syllabus: SYL-BP-103-01