ISO : 3834 (Welding Fabricator)
To ensure the proper quality of your welded product and to optimize your manufacturing cost, the whole welding process must be controlled from the very start. To take all welding quality affecting aspects into consideration, the welding shop is recommended to implement a quality assurance system. The standard ISO 3834 sets out requirements for manufacturers to meet, in order to apply good practice to their welding operations.
There are several steps in a Welding Quality Assurance; to make sure the welding shop has competent welders, there are standardized ways to test the welders. If required you also use written welding instructions and/or so called Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) in order to increase the possibility of consistant quality. The WPS must be qualified, i.e. the WPS has to be based on a WPQR, Welding Procedure Qualification Record. The WPQR explains that, if you follow the WPS, you will have a good chance to weld a joint with the expected properties.
The person responsible for welding, or the welding coordinator, in the welding shop, is responsible for the welders competence and the education and the management of the welders. The coordinators competence requirements, the tasks and responsibilities, are regulated in the standard ISO 14731.
To make sure your welding process is of good quality you need to implement a Welding Quality Assurance System. Inspecta is an accredited certification body for the certification of welders, qualification of welding procedures and certification of welding shops/welding companies for ISO 3834.