ISO 3834 — The Complete Guide for Indian Fabrication Companies

What It Is, Why You Need It, and How to Get Certified Without the Confusion

By Ravi Kumar Thammana | IWE, ASNT/ISO9712/NAS410 Level III | CEO, Trinity NDT WeldSolutions Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore, India

Tags: ISO 3834, welding quality certification, ISO 3834 certification India, welding quality management, fabrication quality, WPS PQR India, IWE consulting

Let me be direct with you about something that most welding consultants won't say upfront.

ISO 3834 is not complicated. The concepts behind it — document your welding procedures, qualify your welders, plan your inspections, keep your records — are things that any professional fabrication shop owner already understands intuitively. They've been doing this work for years. The reason most companies struggle with ISO 3834 certification is not because the standard is technically impossible. It's because the documentation, the terminology, and the audit process feel foreign and bureaucratic to people who are more comfortable with a weld joint than with a quality manual.

I have been working in welding quality engineering for 28 years. I have written WPS documents for Reliance Industries' Jamnagar Refinery, supervised pipeline qualification for the Indian Oil Corporation's Salaya-Mathura cross-country pipeline, and supported dozens of fabrication companies through their welding quality system upgrades. I have seen ISO 3834 certification done well — and I've seen it done in a way that creates paperwork without actually improving welding quality, which defeats the entire purpose.

This article is my attempt to give you the complete, unfiltered picture of what ISO 3834 is, what it requires, and what a certification journey actually looks like for an Indian fabrication company — from the inside. By the end of it, you will know exactly what you're getting into, and you will be able to decide whether this is the right step for your business.

First — What Problem Does ISO 3834 Actually Solve?

Before we talk about documents and clauses, let's talk about the real-world problem that ISO 3834 was designed to address.

Welding is what the ISO standard calls a "special process." This means that the quality of the output — the weld — cannot be fully verified by inspection alone after the fact. You can radiograph a weld and find that it looks good on film. But the film cannot tell you whether the welder was qualified, whether the correct preheat was applied, whether the filler metal was from an approved lot, or whether the interpass temperature was maintained. All of those variables affect the long-term integrity of the weld in ways that are invisible on a film taken one hour after welding.

This is the fundamental insight behind ISO 3834: because welding quality cannot be entirely verified after the fact, it must be planned, controlled, and documented before and during the welding process. Quality must be built in — not inspected in.

ISO 3834 is the international standard that defines what "building in" welding quality looks like — systematically, documentably, and in a way that can be independently audited by a client, a third-party certification body, or a regulatory authority.

Who Created ISO 3834 and Who Uses It?

ISO 3834 was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in its current form as a 2021 revision. The standard was originally developed by the International Institute of Welding (IIW) — the same body that issues the International Welding Engineer (IWE) qualification. This is not a coincidence. ISO 3834 requires that welding operations be coordinated by persons with recognised welding engineering knowledge — and the IWE qualification is the most widely recognised credential for that role internationally.

ISO 3834 is referenced by — or mandatory for compliance with — the following major standards and directives that Indian fabrication companies encounter regularly:

EN 1090: The European standard for structural steelwork fabrication. Any company fabricating steel structures for the European market must comply with EN 1090 — which explicitly requires ISO 3834 certification. If you want to put a CE Mark on structural steel, ISO 3834 is not optional.

EN 15085: The European standard for railway vehicle welding. Railway coaches, bogies, wagons, and infrastructure welded components for the European market require EN 15085 — which is built on ISO 3834.

ISO 14731: The companion standard to ISO 3834 that defines the competence requirements for Welding Coordination Personnel. You cannot meet ISO 3834 without understanding ISO 14731.

Major EPC contractors: Larsen & Toubro, Petrofac, Technip Energies, McDermott, and dozens of other large EPC and EPCI contractors now include ISO 3834 compliance in their vendor qualification requirements for fabrication subcontractors.

Defence and aerospace supply chains: DRDO, HAL, and their Tier-1 and Tier-2 fabrication vendors are increasingly being asked to demonstrate ISO 3834 or equivalent welding quality system compliance.

ASME-coded fabrication: While ISO 3834 is not explicitly required by ASME Section VIII or ASME Section IX, many clients and Authorised Inspection Agencies (AIA) accept ISO 3834 as evidence of a comprehensive welding quality system alongside ASME compliance.

The Three Levels of ISO 3834 — Choose the Right One for Your Business

ISO 3834 is not a single document — it is a family of standards with three tiers, designed for different levels of fabrication complexity. Choosing the right level before you start is critical, because upgrading from a lower level to a higher level later requires substantial rework of your documentation.

ISO 3834-2: Comprehensive Quality Requirements

This is the highest level — required for complex, safety-critical fabrications. Choose this level if you fabricate: pressure vessels (ASME Section VIII), power generation equipment (ASME Section I / IBR boilers), structural steel for critical applications (bridges, offshore platforms), aerospace components, or any application where your client or code specifically requires the comprehensive level.

ISO 3834-2 requires every element in the standard — qualification of all welding procedures, all welders, all welding equipment, full traceability of materials, detailed inspection and testing plans, and comprehensive documentation.

The majority of Indian fabrication companies pursuing ISO 3834 for the first time, and planning to supply to European, EPC, or defence clients, should target ISO 3834-2. It is the most commercially valuable level.

ISO 3834-3: Standard Quality Requirements

This intermediate level is appropriate for fabrications that are less safety-critical — general structural steel, commercial equipment, and HVAC or utility piping. It has fewer requirements than ISO 3834-2 — certain pre-weld and in-process inspection steps are less prescriptive.

Most experienced Indian fabricators who implement ISO 3834-3 find that the gap between 3834-3 and 3834-2 is smaller than they expected — and that the additional effort to achieve 3834-2 is worth the significantly higher commercial value it opens.

ISO 3834-4: Elementary Quality Requirements

This is the minimum level — intended for simple, low-risk welding operations. It is rarely requested by clients or certification bodies. If a client is specifying ISO 3834, they almost always mean 3834-2. Implementing 3834-4 and presenting it as ISO 3834 compliance will not pass a knowledgeable client audit.

The 18 Elements of ISO 3834-2 — What the Standard Actually Requires

This is the part of this article that most ISO 3834 guides get wrong — they either list the clauses mechanically without explaining what they mean in practice, or they give you so little detail that you cannot use the information to actually plan your implementation.

I'm going to give you both — the what and the what-it-means-for-your-shop-floor.

Element 1 — Contract Review

What the standard requires: Before accepting a welding order, you must review whether you have the capability — procedures, qualified welders, equipment, inspection resources — to deliver it.

What this means for your company: You need a formal procedure for reviewing new orders before accepting them. The review must check: Do we have approved WPS for this material and process? Do we have welders qualified for this joint configuration? Do we have the inspection equipment and personnel? Is the delivery date achievable with the required quality?

This sounds like common sense — and it is. But ISO 3834 requires it to be written down, systematically applied, and documented for every order. A one-page Contract Review Checklist is usually sufficient.

Element 2 — Design Review

What the standard requires: If your company is responsible for the weld design (not just executing a design given to you by the client), you must have a procedure for reviewing design drawings from a weldability and inspection access perspective before fabrication begins.

What this means: Many fabrication shops are contract manufacturers — the client provides the drawings. In that case, design review may be limited to reviewing the drawing for weldability (can our equipment access this joint? is the pre-heat achievable?). If you do design your own weldments, this becomes a more substantial requirement involving weld symbol review, joint configuration optimisation, and NDT access planning.

Element 3 — Subcontracting

What the standard requires: If any part of your welding work — or any NDT, heat treatment, or other special process — is subcontracted, you must have a procedure for qualifying and controlling subcontractors.

What this means: You cannot send welding work to another shop and simply trust that it was done correctly. You must verify that the subcontractor has qualified welding procedures, qualified welders, and appropriate quality systems. You remain responsible for the quality of subcontracted work. NDT laboratories used for post-weld inspection (like Trinity NDT) should be NABL-accredited — so their certificates carry the quality assurance your ISO 3834 system requires.

Element 4 — Welding Personnel

What the standard requires: All welding operations must be performed by welders or welding operators who are qualified per a recognised standard. Welding must be coordinated by personnel with appropriate welding engineering knowledge.

What this means: Every welder who touches a production weld must have a current Welder Qualification Record (WQR) — issued under ASME Section IX, ISO 9606-1, AWS D1.1, or the applicable standard for your work. Welding Operators running automated/mechanised equipment need qualification under ISO 14732. And — critically — someone in your organisation must carry the Responsible Welding Coordinator (RWC) title and have the technical knowledge level defined by ISO 14731. For ISO 3834-2, this is typically an IWE (International Welding Engineer) or IWT (International Welding Technologist). This is where many companies get stuck — they don't have an in-house IWE and need external welding coordination support.

Element 5 — Welding Equipment

What the standard requires: Welding equipment must be suitable for the work, maintained in good condition, and calibrated where required. Records of equipment maintenance and calibration must be kept.

What this means: Every welding machine used on ISO 3834-controlled work should have an equipment register entry, a periodic condition check record, and calibration records for ammeters, voltmeters, and wire feeders if the welding procedure specifies current and voltage tolerances. This is usually straightforward for a well-run fabrication shop — the records are the main gap.

Element 6 — Welding Consumables

What the standard requires: Welding consumables (electrodes, filler wires, fluxes, shielding gases) must be approved for the specific welding procedure, stored correctly, and traceable.

What this means: You need a consumable control procedure. This covers: purchasing only from approved suppliers with mill certificates and batch test certificates; storing electrodes in a rod oven at the correct temperature (low-hydrogen electrodes must be kept at 120–200°C after baking); issuing electrodes from storage on a first-in-first-out basis; recording the batch number of consumables used on each production weld for traceability.

The most common finding in ISO 3834 audits related to consumables: electrodes stored without rod oven records, or consumables without traceable batch certificates.

Element 7 — Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS)

What the standard requires: Every production weld must be made in accordance with an approved Welding Procedure Specification (WPS). The WPS must be qualified — either by a Procedure Qualification Test (PQR) or by pre-qualification (where the applicable code permits).

What this means: This is the technical heart of ISO 3834. You need a WPS for every material, joint type, process, and position combination you weld in production. For ISO 3834-2, WPS qualification is typically done per EN ISO 15614-1 (or ASME Section IX if that is the code basis). This means physically welding qualification test pieces, subjecting them to mechanical testing (tensile, bend, impact, hardness), and having the test welds examined by NDT (typically radiography and/or ultrasonic testing). The resulting PQR, combined with the WPS, forms the documented basis for your production welding.

For companies starting from scratch, building a complete WPS/PQR library is the most technically demanding and time-consuming part of the certification journey. Plan for it accordingly.

Element 8 — Production Welding Plan

What the standard requires: For complex fabrications, a Production Welding Plan (also called a Weld Map or Welding Quality Plan) must be prepared before welding begins.

What this means: The Production Welding Plan is a document — it can be a table, a marked-up drawing, or a formal plan — that specifies for each weld or weld group: which WPS applies, which qualified welder(s) are assigned, what pre-weld inspection is required (fit-up, pre-heat), what in-process inspection is required (interpass temperature, weld sequence), and what post-weld inspection is required (NDT method, extent, acceptance criteria).

For simple, repetitive fabrications, a generic Welding Quality Plan may cover many production welds. For complex one-off jobs (pressure vessels, reactors), a job-specific plan is needed.

Element 9 — Pre-Weld Inspection

What the standard requires: Before welding begins, the joint and surrounding area must be inspected and the inspection documented.

What this means: A pre-weld checklist must be completed and signed for every weld (or weld sequence) before the first arc is struck. The checklist covers: joint fit-up dimensions (root gap, root face, bevel angle, alignment) versus the WPS requirement; base metal identification and material certificate verification; joint cleanliness; tack weld condition; preheat temperature measured with a calibrated contact thermometer or temperature-indicating crayon.

Element 10 — In-Process Inspection

What the standard requires: During welding, critical variables must be monitored and verified against the WPS.

What this means: In-process inspection records must document: welding parameters (current, voltage, travel speed — compare to WPS essential variable ranges); interpass temperature measured between each pass; welding sequence if specified; consumable lot numbers used; welder identification stamp on each pass (for identified welds). Any in-process repair must be documented and the repaired area re-inspected.

Element 11 — Post-Weld Inspection and Testing

What the standard requires: After welding, completed welds must be inspected and tested per the requirements of the WPS, the production welding plan, and the applicable product standard.

What this means: This is where your NDT happens. Visual inspection per ISO 17637 is the first post-weld step — 100% of welds. Additional NDT (radiography, ultrasonic, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant testing) is performed at the extent specified in the job specification and the production welding plan. Post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) records — if required — must document the temperature-time cycle and identify the thermocouples used. All inspection results must be formally recorded and traceable to the specific weld.

Elements 12 through 18 — Supporting Requirements

The remaining elements cover: Non-conformance and corrective action (what to do when a weld fails inspection); Calibration (measuring equipment used for pre-weld, in-process, and post-weld inspection must be calibrated); Identification and traceability (materials and welds must be identifiable throughout production); Quality records (all records must be maintained for the retention period defined by the contract or standard — typically 10 years for pressure vessels); and Joint preparation (cutting, grinding, and forming of joint preparations must be specified and controlled).

The Responsible Welding Coordinator (RWC) — The Most Critical Person in Your ISO 3834 Programme

If there is one concept in ISO 3834 that causes more confusion — and more audit failures — than any other, it is the Responsible Welding Coordinator.

ISO 14731 (the companion standard to ISO 3834) defines three levels of welding coordination:

Comprehensive Technical Knowledge: Required for complex materials and processes — typically held by an IWE (International Welding Engineer) or equivalent.

Specific Technical Knowledge: Required for standard structural and piping work — typically held by an IWT (International Welding Technologist) or equivalent.

Basic Technical Knowledge: For simple, low-risk welding — typically held by an IWS (International Welding Specialist) or equivalent.

For ISO 3834-2 on pressure vessels, structural steel (EN 1090), or any safety-critical application, a person with Comprehensive Technical Knowledge is required. In practice, this means an IWE or a person with demonstrably equivalent formal qualification.

Here is the reality that I see in most Indian fabrication companies: very few medium-sized fabricators have a full-time IWE on their payroll. This is simply not commercially viable for a company doing ₹10–50 crore of fabrication per year. The solution — and it is a solution that ISO 3834 explicitly permits — is to engage an external Responsible Welding Coordinator on a project or retainer basis. The external RWC does not need to be present at your facility every day. They need to be available for review of welding plans, approval of WPS documents, investigation of non-conformances, and liaison with clients and certification bodies on welding quality matters.

Trinity NDT WeldSolutions provides outsourced RWC services exactly for this reason. Ravi Kumar Thammana's IWE qualification, combined with 28 years of active welding engineering and inspection experience, gives our clients access to Comprehensive Technical Knowledge without the cost of a full-time senior welding engineer on their payroll.

The Certification Journey — What Actually Happens, Step by Step

Many fabrication companies approach ISO 3834 certification believing it is a documentation exercise — produce the right papers and pass the audit. It is not. It is a quality system implementation exercise — build the right practices, and the documentation follows naturally.

Here is what a realistic certification journey looks like:

Stage 1 — Gap Analysis (Week 1–3)

The first thing a competent ISO 3834 consultant does is understand exactly where your current practice stands relative to the 18 elements of the standard. This is done through a structured audit of your current documentation, your shop-floor practices, interviews with your welding supervisors and QC team, and review of your existing WPS and welder qualification records.

The output is a Gap Report — a specific, actionable list of every element where your current practice falls short of the standard's requirement. This report prioritises the gaps by effort and importance, and gives you a realistic timeline for closure.

Most companies are pleasantly surprised by the gap analysis — many elements are already being practised informally. The main gaps are typically: formal WPS documentation, systematic pre-weld and in-process inspection records, calibration records for welding equipment, and the formal assignment of a Responsible Welding Coordinator.

Stage 2 — Documentation Development (Month 1–3)

Based on the gap analysis, the consulting team (or the company's own QC team with consulting support) develops the required documentation:

The Welding Quality Plan / Quality Manual for Welding — the top-level document that describes how your company complies with each element of ISO 3834. This is not the same as your ISO 9001 Quality Manual. It is specific to welding and must address every requirement of the standard in the context of your specific fabrication scope.

Welding Quality Procedures — the operational procedures that describe how pre-weld, in-process, and post-weld inspection is done; how welding consumables are controlled; how non-conformances are managed; how calibration is maintained.

WPS/PQR Library — the collection of Welding Procedure Specifications and Procedure Qualification Records for all process/material/position combinations used in production. This is often the most time-consuming element — qualifying procedures requires welding test pieces, NDT, and mechanical testing.

Welder Qualification Records — current WQRs for all production welders, with validity status tracked.

Forms and Records Templates — pre-weld inspection checklist, in-process inspection record, consumable issue register, equipment calibration record, non-conformance report, and all the other forms that will be completed during production.

Stage 3 — Implementation and Training (Month 3–4)

Documentation without implementation is worthless — and certification bodies are very good at identifying companies that have excellent documents but are not actually using them on the shop floor.

Implementation means: the welding supervisors understand and are using the pre-weld inspection checklist on every job; the rod oven has a temperature record; the welders know their qualification scope and don't weld outside it; the QC engineer is signing off in-process inspection records; the WPS is physically available at the welding station.

Training your team on the new procedures — particularly the supervisors, welding foremen, and QC inspectors — is an essential step before the certification audit. An auditor can always tell the difference between a team that understands the system and a team that was briefed on it the day before.

Stage 4 — Internal Audit (Month 4)

Before inviting the certification body, conduct an internal audit — a systematic review of the implemented system against the standard's requirements. The internal audit identifies remaining gaps that must be closed before the external audit. Ideally, the internal audit is conducted by someone independent of the department being audited — a consultant, an external welding quality professional, or a trained internal auditor from another department.

Every finding from the internal audit gets a corrective action with a responsible person and a closure date. Close all critical findings before proceeding to Stage 5.

Stage 5 — Certification Body Assessment

ISO 3834 certification is issued by accredited certification bodies — organisations that are formally accredited to assess and certify companies against the standard. In India, the main certification bodies include IIW India (Indian Institute of Welding), Bureau Veritas, TÜV Rheinland India, DNV India, SGS India, and Lloyd's Register.

The certification assessment typically consists of:

Document Review (Stage 1 Audit): The certification body reviews your quality documentation remotely or at your facility. They confirm that your Quality Manual and procedures adequately address all elements of ISO 3834. Any significant documentation gaps must be addressed before Stage 2.

Site Assessment (Stage 2 Audit): The auditor visits your facility, interviews your personnel, reviews your records, and physically observes your welding operations and inspection activities. This is where the real test happens. The auditor will look at: a live pre-weld inspection — is it being done per your procedure? A rod oven — is there a temperature record? A welder's qualification certificate — is it current and does the scope cover today's work? A completed production weld — is there a corresponding in-process record?

If the Stage 2 audit identifies only minor non-conformances (which is common and expected), you address them, submit evidence of closure to the certification body, and the certificate is issued. Major non-conformances require a follow-up visit before the certificate is issued.

Certificate Duration and Surveillance: ISO 3834 certification is typically issued for 3 years. Annual surveillance audits are conducted by the certification body in year 1 and year 2. Recertification is conducted in year 3.

What ISO 3834 Will Actually Do for Your Business

Let me give you the honest version — because the benefits are real, but they are not always the ones that are marketed.

Opens export and international tender opportunities. This is the most immediate and commercially significant benefit. European structural steel and railway contracts, major EPC tenders, and defence DPSUs are increasingly requiring ISO 3834 as a pre-qualification requirement. Without it, your company is simply ineligible to bid.

Reduces rework and warranty costs. Companies that implement ISO 3834 properly — not just as a documentation exercise — typically report a 15–30% reduction in weld rework rates within the first year. The pre-weld inspection step alone, consistently applied, catches fit-up problems that would otherwise require weld removal and re-welding.

Strengthens client confidence for domestic contracts. Even clients who don't explicitly require ISO 3834 certification respond positively to a company that can demonstrate a systematic welding quality programme. It differentiates you from competitors who cannot.

Protects your company legally. If a welded structure fails in service and there is a dispute about liability, a company that followed documented welding procedures with trained welders and systematic inspection records is in a fundamentally different legal position than one that cannot produce any welding quality records.

Improves internal discipline. The single most consistent thing I hear from fabrication company owners six months after ISO 3834 implementation is: "Our supervisors are more disciplined and our welders know that we are serious about quality." The system creates accountability at every level.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1 — Starting with documentation before understanding the requirements. Some consultants (and some companies) jump straight into writing quality procedures before doing a thorough gap analysis. The result is documentation that doesn't match how the company actually works — and fails at the Stage 1 audit.

Mistake 2 — Treating the RWC requirement as a checkbox. Appointing a welder as the "Responsible Welding Coordinator" to satisfy the audit without giving them the training or authority to actually coordinate welding — this is the most common reason for audit failures and repeat corrective actions.

Mistake 3 — Building the system for the audit, not for the shop floor. If your welding supervisors don't understand why they're completing a pre-weld inspection form — they won't complete it properly when the auditor isn't watching. Train your people on the reason behind every procedure, not just the form-filling.

Mistake 4 — Choosing the wrong certification level. Taking the path of least resistance and certifying to ISO 3834-3 when your clients and contracts require ISO 3834-2 is a waste of the entire investment.

Mistake 5 — Underestimating the WPS development effort. Companies that do not have an existing qualified WPS library consistently underestimate the time and cost of procedure qualification. Budget realistically — a PQR for a high-alloy steel with impact testing and radiography can take 4–6 weeks from test weld to completed documentation.

How Trinity NDT WeldSolutions Supports Your ISO 3834 Journey

This is where I can speak from very direct experience — because this is work our team does every week for fabrication companies across South India and beyond.

Trinity NDT WeldSolutions provides a complete ISO 3834 certification support programme through Ravi Kumar Thammana (IWE, ASNT Level III — all 6 methods, CSWIP 3.0, 28 years active welding quality engineering experience). Our support covers every stage of the journey:

Gap Analysis: A structured, written gap report against ISO 3834-2 or ISO 3834-3 — specific, actionable, prioritised. Not a generic checklist.

Documentation Development: Quality Manual for Welding, all quality procedures, production welding plan templates, inspection forms, consumable control procedures, calibration records — all developed to match how your company actually works, not a generic template.

WPS / PQR Development: We develop WPS documents and plan procedure qualification tests. We witness test welding, coordinate mechanical testing through accredited test houses, and perform the required NDT on test coupons in our NABL ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited laboratory — giving you NABL-certified radiographic and UT records to support your PQR package.

Welder Qualification Testing: We design and conduct WQT programmes for your production welders per ASME Section IX, AWS D1.1, EN ISO 9606-1, and other applicable standards. NABL-accredited NDT of test coupons is included.

Outsourced Responsible Welding Coordinator: For companies without an in-house IWE, we provide an external RWC service — document review, production plan approval, client and certification body liaison, and ongoing welding quality oversight on a retainer or project basis.

Training: We train your supervisors, QC engineers, and welding foremen on the practical application of ISO 3834 requirements on your shop floor. Not classroom theory — practical, job-relevant training.

Internal Audit: We conduct a pre-certification internal audit — finding the gaps that the certification body auditor would find, so you can close them before the real audit.

Certification Body Liaison: We work with you and the certification body through the Stage 1 and Stage 2 assessment, helping prepare responses to audit findings and supporting corrective action evidence submission.

The unique advantage of working with Trinity NDT is the combination of welding engineering depth (IWE) and NDT accreditation (NABL + NADCAP) under one roof. Your ISO 3834-required NDT of test coupons, production welds, and in-process inspection reports all come with NABL-accredited certificates — the highest quality standard available in India, accepted without question by certification bodies, AIAs, and international clients.

If you are a fabrication company considering ISO 3834 certification — whether you are just beginning to understand what it involves, or whether you've been working toward it for a while and feel stuck — I would like to talk to you directly.

There is no obligation and no sales pressure. A 30-minute conversation about where your company is and what certification would realistically require is something I am happy to offer to any serious fabrication company. We can do it by phone, video call, or in person at our facility in Peenya, Bangalore.

WhatsApp me directly: +91 98441 29439

Or email: info@trinityndt.com

Or visit our IWE Consulting Services page: trinityndt.com/welding-engineering-consultant

A Quick Reference Summary for ISO 3834-2 Certification

Before I close, here is the practical summary that most fabrication company owners actually want to keep on their desk:

Parameter	ISO 3834-2 Requirement
Applicable to	Complex, safety-critical welded fabrications — pressure vessels, structural steel (EN 1090), railway (EN 15085), aerospace, defence
Welding Coordinator	IWE level (Comprehensive Technical Knowledge per ISO 14731)
WPS requirement	All production welds — qualified procedures per EN ISO 15614-1 or ASME Section IX
Welder qualification	All welders — per EN ISO 9606-1, ASME Section IX, or applicable standard
Pre-weld inspection	Mandatory — documented for every weld
In-process inspection	Mandatory — parameters monitored against WPS
Post-weld inspection	Per applicable product standard — VT 100%, NDT as specified
Calibration	All measuring equipment used for welding quality — calibrated and records maintained
Material traceability	Full traceability of base metal and consumables to production welds
Records retention	Minimum 10 years for pressure vessels — per contract for other applications
Certification body	IIW India, Bureau Veritas, TÜV, DNV, SGS, Lloyd's Register
Certification validity	3 years — annual surveillance audits
Typical implementation time	4–8 months from gap analysis to certificate
Recommended consultant profile	IWE with active welding quality engineering experience + NABL NDT capability

Ravi Kumar Thammana is the CEO and Co-Founder of Trinity NDT WeldSolutions Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. He holds International Welding Engineer (IWE) from IIW India, ASNT Level III and ISO9712 Level III in all six NDT methods, NAS 410 Level III, and is a Radiological Safety Officer (RSO) from AERB/BARC. Trinity NDT is NABL ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited (TC-5934) and NADCAP Aerospace Merit certified. He blogs at materials-testing.blogspot.com and can be reached at ravi@trinityndt.com.

Published on: materials-testing.blogspot.com | April 2026

Tags: ISO 3834, ISO 3834 certification India, welding quality management, ISO 3834-2, welding procedure specification, WPS PQR India, responsible welding coordinator, IWE India, EN 1090, EN 15085, welding quality certification Bangalore, ISO 3834 consultant India, Trinity NDT welding engineering