Senior Certified Welding Inspector
After you've been a CWI for a minimum of six years, and your career has evolved into supervisory or managerial responsibilities in the field of quality control/quality assurance, then you will want to apply for the highest level of certification: a Senior Certified Welding Inspector, or SCWI designation. SCWIs are in demand by companies looking to have it all-skilled, seasoned welding managers who can do the job and supervise others.
The SCWI is an individual who is in a supervisory position and has attained a higher level of experience than a CWI. The successful applicant also has professional education which has provided the opportunity to solve problems with a scope and level of difficulty beyond those experienced as a CWI.
Every CWI who has held CWI certification for a minimum of six years and possesses the requisite 15 years of experience, is not necessarily a candidate for the SCWI exam. Ideal candidates for the SCWI exam have sought out opportunities to expand their careers. Senior Certified Welding Inspector candidates typically will have supplemented their basic education or gained extensive problem-solving experience. Such a background should provide them with a deep and specific understanding of advanced NDE topics, quality systems, procedure qualifications, and other SCWI knowledge areas as identified below.

Experience Requirements:
SCWI applicants must document direct work involvement in:

CWI wishing to advance to SCWI at the 9-year recertification
For CWI applicants in your sixth year renewal cycle who wish to pursue and who qualify for SCWI status,you will need to complete an SCWI, CWI & CAWI Renewal & Upgrade Application along with a SCWI application. However, you are only required to pay the SCWI application fee. If you are not successful inpassing the test at the SCWI level, your CWI status will be renewed for no additional charge.

For CWI applicants in your ninth year renewal cycle who wish to pursue and who qualify for SCWI status, youwill need to complete a CWI 9-Yr Re-Certification Application along with an SCWI application. Your CWIcan re re-certified at the 9-yr mark by either taking the Part B Practical Examination or by evidence ofcontinuing education (see QC1:96, Section 12.2.2 for more information). You may schedule the Part Bexamination at the same site location that you will be taking the SCWI examination. If you qualify for re-certification via the continuing education route, the supporting documents along with the completed exemptapplication must be submitted at the same time as your SCWI application. However, you will still only be required to pay for the SCWI application fee.

Applicants who are still active CWI's and are not due to expire for at least six months form their desiredSCWI testing date, you will need to complete the SCWI application only. If you are not successful in passingthe SCWI examination, you will maintain your active CWI status until your expiration date. At that time, youmust pay the regular renewal/re-certification fees.

SCWI Re-Examination
The SCWI Re-Exam Application is to be used only by those individuals who have taken the AWS SCWI examination, and whose score(s) did not qualify for the SCWI level.

BOTH PARTS OF THE SCWI EXAMINATION MUST BE TAKEN. The SCWI re-examination must be taken WITHIN ONE year following the date of your INITAL exam to keep your application current. AFTER ONE year following your INITIAL exam, you will need to complete a new SCWI Exam Application.

VISUAL ACUITY RECORD:
Your Visual Acuity Record that is currently in your certification file cannot be more than (7) months prior to the date of your re-exam. If it is beyond (7) months, you will be required to provide a new Visual Acuity Record.

RE-EXAM FEES:
(checks, money orders, major credit cards or company purchase orders)
Please refer to the Certification Price List and Policies for all applicable fees. All checks and money orders are made payable to AWS. Payment must accompany your application. No certification documentation will be released until payment has been fully satisfied.

PLEASE BE SURE TO VERIFY THE FOLLOWING BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION TO AWS:

• Complete and sign the application
• the address indicated on the application is where your documents will be mailed.
• Visual Acuity Record.
• Payment included with the application.

Please be advised that you will be notified (6) weeks AFTER your application has been submitted. Contacting the AWS Certification Business Unit BEFORE the (6) week period will delay the application processing time and further hinder the receipt of your certification materials. We strongly urge applicants to please allow the (6) weeks processing time so that we at AWS may efficiently and accurately serve your certification needs.

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the SCWI Re-Examination process, please feel free to contact the AWS Certification Business Unit at: 1-800-443-9353, ext. 273. Our Certification Coordinators are available to assist you Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

SCWI Renewal
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to renew your certification before it expires. You will not beallowed to renew your certification after the expiration date. In order to re-certify after your certificationhas expired, you will be required to test on all (3) parts of the CWI/CWE Examination.

To qualify for a renewal, all SCWI, CWI and CAWI applicants must attest to (2) years activity, of thethree three-year certification period, in the practice of welding inspection or related activities as defined inSections 5.1.2, 5.2.2 and 5.3.2 in the QC1:96 Standard (also see Section 12.2.1 in the QC1:96. This workexperience must be documented in the Qualifying Work Experience section of the application. Resumésare not acceptable.

Additionally, you must also provide a current Visual Acuity Record with your application. The VisualAcuity Record cannot be more than (7) months prior to the date of your certification expiration. Eyeexaminations must also be administered by ophthalmic medical personnel (please see Section 6.1.1.1 inthe QC1:96).

NOTE: Applicants cannot upgrade to the SCWI certification. Individuals interested in the SCWI certification must comply with section 5.1 and 6.1 in the QC1:96.

Renewal Fees:
(checks, money orders, major credit cards or company purchase orders)
Please refer to the AWS Certification Price List for all applicable fees. Be sure to complete the Method of Payment section on the application. All checks and money orders should be made payable to AWS. Payment must accompany your application. No renewal or upgrade information will be mailed until payment has been fully satisfied.

NOTE: Please allow at least (6) weeks for application to be completely processed before contacting AWS regarding the status.

Please be sure to do the following before submitting your application to AWS: