Writing a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS), based on API 577, API 582 and ASME Section IX

A welding procedure specification (WPS) is the document that lets a qualified welder repeat a sound weld, and the inspector’s job is to confirm it deserves that trust before the arc is struck. This programme teaches how a WPS is written, how the procedure qualification record (PQR) behind it is built, and how both are reviewed against the code. It is based on API 577, API 582 and ASME Section IX. It does not cover welder qualification: the focus is procedures, not testing individual welders. The programme runs through ten modules, about 7 hours 10 minutes of instructor-led study. It opens with the arc welding processes an inspector meets in refinery and chemical plant work, with SMAW and GTAW in detail, then sets out the fundamentals: what a WPS and a PQR are, how the PQR records the actual values used on the test coupon while the WPS states the ranges allowed in production, and what API 577 requires every WPS to contain. The core of the course is the SMAW variables of ASME IX Table QW-253, taken in five modules and sorted into essential, supplementary essential and non-essential variables: Joint design: groove design, backing, root spacing and retainers. Base metal: thickness ranges, toughness limits, P-Numbers and Group Numbers. Filler metal: F-Number, A-Number, electrode diameter and classification for toughness. Position, preheat and PWHT: welding position, preheat, interpass temperature and postweld heat treatment. Heat input and technique: heat input calculated from voltage, amperage and travel speed, current and polarity, weave or stringer technique, cleaning, peening and thermal processes. Two modules turn the theory into a working document. The first shows how to complete the Form QW-482 layout and where to take preheat, interpass and PWHT values from ASME B31.3, ASME Section VIII Division 1 and API 582. The second covers the consumable reference data: decoding a carbon-steel electrode, amperage ranges, weld metal chemistry limits, shielding and purging gases, and electrode storage and drying. The final module is the review itself: check the WPS, check the PQR, then cross-check that the PQR’s essential variables support every range on the WPS, using the 27-item checklist from API 577 6.4.2. The recurring question throughout is what you check on the page: whether each range is backed by a PQR value, whether supplementary essentials are needed for toughness, and whether the WPS conforms to the construction or repair code. Assessment is an online 20-question exam at a 70% pass mark, leading to a verifiable SKEDMIA certificate.