WPS, PQR, and the welder

• WPS — welding procedure specification. The recipe the welder is allowed to follow: process, joint, position, filler, gas, electricals, preheat, PWHT, technique.
• PQR — procedure qualification record. The test coupon and mechanical tests that prove the WPS works.
• WPQ / welder qualification — the person demonstrated they can deposit sound metal with that process, position, and thickness range.
• Essential variables: change them, requalify. Non-essential: change them with a WPS revision. Your job is not to recite every variable — it is to notice when production has wandered off the WPS (wrong electrode, no preheat, wrong polarity, wrong position).

Under CSA W47.1, welding procedures are submitted to CWB. Welders and welding operators are tested to CWB. Tack welders have their own, narrower qualification. A Level 1 inspector on a W47.1 shop is looking at tickets, expiry/retest windows, and whether the stamp on the workpiece matches the person who welded it.