European & ISO Welding Standards : Introduction
How to complete Certificates
How to complete Certificates:- EN 15614 And EN 287
 
  • EN ISO 15609 (formerly EN 288 Part 2)  Specification and Approval of Welding Procedures for Metallic Materials This part of the standard defines the contents of a Welding Procedure Specification in the form of a list of information which should be recorded.
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 1 (formerly EN 288 Part 3) Welding Procedure Tests For The Arc Welding Of Steel, Nickel and Nickel Alloys.  This is the most familiar and widely used method of qualifying welding procedures.  It involves the welding of a test piece representing the production weld in all essential features.  The completed test weld is then subjected to a variety of specific tests to ensure that the properties of the weld will be acceptable for most stringent applications. EN ISO 15614 Part 1 Compared to EN 288 Part 3 
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 2 (formerly EN 288 Part 4) Welding Procedure Tests For The Arc Welding Of Aluminium and Its Alloys.
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 4 Welding procedure test. Finishing welding of aluminium castings
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 5 Welding procedure test.Arc welding of titanium, zirconium and their alloys
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 6 Welding procedure test.Arc and gas welding of copper and its alloys.
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 7 Welding procedure test. Overlay welding.
  • EN ISO 15614 Part 8 Tubeplates for heat exchangers.  This standard as far as I am aware, is only required for heat exchanger tube plates, and not boilers. It replaced BS4870 Part 3, which appears to be very similar. There is no welder approval standard for this type of joint, use has to be made of EN287/EN ISO 9606.
  • EN ISO 15610 (formerly EN 288 Part 5)  Approval By The Use Of Approved Consumables. An assumption can be made that a weld carried out using welding consumbles, approved by an inspection body, in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended welding practices will produce welds suitable for simple fabrication work without the need for any formal testing.
  • EN ISO 15611 (formerly EN 288 Part 6)  Approval By Previouse Welding Experience. If the same system of welding has been used satisfactorily on welded fabrications for many years, it can be assumed that the welds thus produced are acceptable. Unfortunately we know from our knowledge of linear elastic fracture mechanics that a fine line often exists between a defective weld providing acceptable service life and one that causes a serious failure.  Therefore this method should be used with caution.
  • EN ISO 15612 (formerly EN 288 Part 7)  Approval By A Standard Welding Procedure. Fully documented procedures may be purchased, from reputable authorities, for joining  materials that are relatively easy to weld such as plain carbon and austenitic steels.  This route will be useful to companies which do not wish to get involved with qualifying their own procedures.
  • EN ISO 15613 (formerly EN 288 Part 8)  Approval By A Pre-Production Welding Test. If a particular joint geometry cannot satisfy all the requirements of EN ISO 15614 Part 1 or Part 2 because of its size and testing requirements then a special test can be carried out representing the joint in all respects and subjected to as much of the testing required by EN ISO 15614 for a similar joint type.
  • BS EN 288 Part 9  Welding procedure test for pipeline welding on land and offshore site butt welding of transmission pipelines.  This is the most recent addition to EN 288 and is very similar to BS4515. It is the only standard in the EN 288 series that has not been replaced


The chosen method of procedure approval should take account of the following points:

  • The requirements of the application standard.  This is the standard that  specifies the  welding qualification requirements for fabricated items such as  boilers, pressure vessels or pipework.
  • Customer specification.
  • Examiner / Test Body requirements.  This is the person or organisation  appointed by the contracting parties to approve the procedure.  The use of a  reputable third party inspection Authority is strongly recommended for the  approval of all procedures, as this may prevent the test having to be repeated to  satisfy future contract requirements.
  • The load carrying requirement of the weld and the consequence of failure.
  • Special welding requirements such as pre-heat, post weld heat treatment,  controlled heat input, etc.
For example, pressure vessels built to PD5500 require all welding qualifications to be approved by a procedure test to EN ISO 15614 Part 1 or Part 2,  formerly EN 288 part 3 or part 4. BS 4870 Part 1 or Part 2 qualifications are still accepted providing they satisfy the technical intent of EN ISO 15614.

Welder Approval Tests
The European Standards for Welder Approval are EN 287 Part 1   and EN ISO 9606 Part 2 to 5 . They only cover welding processes that are manual or partly mechanised  .ie. where the skill of the welder has a significant influence on weld quality. Materials to be joined can be wrought, forged or cast.

  • EN287 Part 1 - 2004  {This standard has now been published.}

    • This revision was intended to merge with ISO 9606 Part 1, but agreement could not be reached.
    Fusion Welding Of Steel Materials
     
  • EN ISO 9606 Part 2  {Replaces EN287 Part 2}  :  Published

    • Fusion Welding Of Aluminium and its Alloys
     
  • EN ISO 9606 Part 3 :1999  {No EN Equivalent}  :  Published

    • Fusion Welding Of Copper and Copper Alloys
     
  • EN ISO 9606 Part 4 :1999  {No EN Equivalent}  :  Published

    • Fusion Welding Of Nickel and Nickel Alloys
     
  • EN ISO 9606 Part 5 :2000 {No EN Equivalent}  :  Published

    • Fusion Welding Titanium and Titanium Alloys, Zirconium and zirconium alloys
     
  • EN 1418    :  Published

    • Mechanised and Automated welding, Operator Approval
There is an option (non mandatory) for a job knowledge test (refer to appendix D of the standard) to be carried out, which is a departure as far as the UK is concerned.  British Standards in the past have required the welder to be subjected only to a practical test of his skill, but other countries such as Germany and Austria believe that he should be required to demonstrate some basic knowledge of the processes with which he is involved, particularly regarding safety aspects.

Perhaps the most important change these new standards have introduced, is the requirement for an inspection body to prolong the welders certificate every 2 years.  This has to be done on the basis of evidence of volumetric examinations carried out on the welders production work during the 2 year period.

BS 4872 is still available for qualifying welders on less stringent welding applications such as steel structures or Class 2 pipework to BS 2971.

Acceptance Criterion
The acceptance criterion for welding qualification tests to EN ISO 15614 Parts 1 & 2 and EN 287 Part 1 / EN ISO 9606 Part 2, are defined in a separate standard:-

  • EN ISO 5817 (formerly EN 25817)  Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys — Quality levels for imperfections.   This was an ISO standard that has been adopted in its entirety by CEN.  It gives details, in tabular form, of 26 types of imperfections.  Each imperfection has three acceptance levels; Stringent (B), Intermediate (C) and Moderate (D).

    • EN ISO 15614 Part 1 and EN 287 Part 1 use this standard as the acceptance criterion for imperfections.  Both standards refer to the same imperfection levels which are Stringent (B) except for profile defects which are Intermediate (C).

  • ISO 10042  Arc Welding Joints in Aluminium and its Weldable Alloys - Guidance on Quality Levels For Imperfections.  This standard is the Aluminium version of ISO 5817.  It is used by EN ISO 15614 Part 2 and EN ISO 9606 Part 2 .
Page last updated 23 March 2008