Peers, Products, and Processes You Can Trust
Peers, Products, and Processes You Can Trust
Staying competitive requires being able to quickly verify the quality of the products, training, and business partners your company needs. The rigorous standards of our Certified Welding Fabricator (CWF) program allow you to trust, sight-unseen, the craftsmanship and expertise of every facility that’s earned AWS accreditation — and becoming accredited lets your peers know you hold the same high standards as all AWS CWF Facilities.
To view a list of Certified Welding Fabricator Facilities, select one of the links below:Accreditation Details
Disclaimers
Disclaimers
The suitability of a company to construct pressure vessels, bridges, or complex high-rise buildings in alignment with American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) or American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) procedures is not indicated by an AWS certification. The AWS Certified Welding Fabricator program is also not a replacement for any product-specific certification put forth by any company.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What are the fabricator program requirements?
Program requirements are drawn from two rigorously designed documents — the AWS QC17, Specification for AWS Accreditation of Certified Welding Fabricators; and AWS B5.17, Specification for the Qualification of Welding Fabricators — each of which was put together by industry experts and academic specialists with experience in the qualification of welding facilities. Taken together, this pair of sources sets the parameters for a company’s compliance with welding-related functions and assures, through third-party audit, that the Welding Fabricator has the personnel, organization, experience, procedures, knowledge, equipment, capability, and commitment to conduct proper weldments.
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How does the accreditation process work?
Log in to your AWS member page and download the CWF Initial Application and technical documents (B5.17 and QC 17).
Submit the application along with your quality manual to the AWS Certification Department for review by an auditor.
Following acceptance of your quality manual, an auditor will contact you and arrange an on-site audit. The auditor will use the same on-site audit checklist that you have, so you’ll know what the auditor is inspecting.
The on-site audit will consist of an opening meeting, a review of your facility’s quality manual, an inspection and audit of the facility itself, and a closing meeting to discuss any findings and concerns observed by the auditor.
Your facility will have one month to respond to any outstanding actions to the satisfaction of the auditor.
Upon successful completion of all requirements and payment of fees, your facility will be certified as an AWS Certified Welding Fabricator. This certification shall remain in effect for three years, with annual internal audits in the second and third years, after which the process repeats. -
How will accreditation benefit my company?
A certified company shows customers that the company won’t settle for being considered average fabricators. CWF Facilities signal to their peers that they care enough about their work to put a quality management system into place for welding operations. They demonstrate to current and potential customers the willingness to have an outside authority inspect their work and hold them to high standards. Accredited facilities demonstrate they are qualified and committed to fabricating weldments aligned with required specifications, which results in the enhanced reputation that quality work brings.
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What will our company’s responsibilities be as a CWF Facility?
CWF Facilities are responsible for contract documents and procedures, material control, welding, inspection, and shipment. Facilities must maintain an internal quality control program in accordance with requirements and standards laid out in AWS B5.17, Specification for the Qualification of Welding Fabricators. While specification doesn’t require CWF Facilities to control weldment design or final coating, it doesn’t prohibit those activities.
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Is CWF Facility accreditation an alternative to other quality systems, or is it a supplement to them?
AWS certification works as both an affordable alternative and a supplement to ISO-, AISC-, NADCAP-, or ASME-aligned quality systems. While it’s often viewed as the certification of choice for larger fabricators, small and medium-sized facilities often use CWF Facility accreditation as an entrance point to joining the ranks of top-tier welding fabricators that hold an elite place in the industry.