Welding Procedure Preparation1
Welding Procedure Preparation1
Welding
Procedure
Guide
1.0 Introduction
This guide has been prepared to assist welding personnel with the preparation of welding procedures
required as part of their company certification to CSA Standards W47.1, W47.2 and W186.
There will be a brief description of the first two documents; however, this guide will focus on the preparation
of welding procedure data sheets. Each item on the welding procedure data sheet will be described and
guidance will be provided to complete each section.
Welding engineering standards cover the design of welded joints encountered by the fabricator and
prepared primarily for the fabricator’s engineering and drafting personnel.
(a) Illustrated profiles of each typical joint intended for use, showing:
(i) The type of joint (eg, butt, lap, tee, corner, edge);
(ii) The type of weld;
(iii) The geometry of the preparation and fit-up;
(iv) The standard welding symbol;
(v) The range of thickness; and
(b) Minimum permissible sizes of fillet and partial penetration groove welds.
All companies applying or certified to CSA Standards W47.1, W47.2 or W186 are required to prepare and
submit welding procedure specifications to the CWB for acceptance.
A welding procedure specification (WPS) sets broad guidelines for the shop and field welding practice of
the fabricator for each anticipated combination of essential variables. Welding parameters and ranges are
specified and used to prepare the associated welding procedure data sheets.
The company shall have welding procedure specifications for each welding process in use, outlining the
general welding procedure to be followed in the construction of weldments built in accordance with the
governing design or manufacturing standard, or both. Welding procedure specifications submitted for
acceptance should cover as a minimum the items specified in Appendix D of CSA Standard W47.1 or
Appendix A of CSA Standard W47.2, as applicable. Each welding procedure specification shall include
applicable essential variables. All welding procedure specifications shall be submitted to the Bureau for
acceptance and when stamped as accepted shall be considered as registered with the Bureau.
A welding procedure data sheet (WPDS) is a document, used in conjunction with a WPS, detailing the
welding parameters and ranges for welding a specific joint, over a range of thicknesses and weld sizes, as
illustrated on the data sheet. The following is the standard welding procedure data sheet form suggested by
the CWB, however, other welding procedure data sheet formats may be used. Each item on the data sheet
will be described and guidance on the completion of the form will be given. Common errors in completing
the form will be identified.
Enter the complete company name and address in this section. If the data sheets are to be used by
two or more certified plants within the same company the applicable plants need to be identified in the
documentation submitted.
WPDS No.
Each company should have its own method of numbering welding procedure data sheets. This can range
from a relatively simple consecutive number system to one that identifies the process, position, groove type
and electrode. Each welding procedure data sheet number should be unique so that the WPDS can be
easily referenced on production schedules, work orders, shop drawings etc.
Enter the date the welding procedure data sheet was prepared and the revision number.
Reference Standards
A common combination is W47.1 and W59. For certified companies, there must always be a certification
standard stated (eg. W47.1, W47.2,W186) plus a “Construction” standard (eg. W59, W59.2, D1.3, D1.6).