DIRECTIVE Grade C Pressure Welder Certification

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Information Bulletin No. IB11-002 Revision 1 September 4, 2013

- WITHDRAWN 2018-11-14

DIRECTIVE

Grade C Pressure Welder Certification

This bulletin provides guidance related to the issuance of the Grade C Pressure

Welder Certificate of Competency and supersedes IB06-002.

Initial Certificate

An initial Grade C Pressure Welder Certificate of Competency will be valid for up to

24 months following the date it is issued. This provides sufficient time for the welder

either to prepare for the Grade B Pressure Welder examination or to register with

Alberta Advanced Education as a welding apprentice. For a Grade C Pressure

Welder Certificate of Competency issued in response to urgent circumstances, the

term shall not exceed 10 working days.

Additional Performance Qualifications

For a Grade C Pressure Welder employed by a manufacturer with a Pressure

Welder Testing Program, the process for obtaining additional performance

qualification, within the limitations of the initial performance qualification test (see

note 2 in next paragraph), shall encompass:

 Completion of the performance qualification test, as witnessed by the

manufacturer’s welding examiner, and

 Issuance of an ABSA form AB-76A, by the welding examiner to the

successful candidate, with the same expiry date as the initial certificate.

Note 1:

 There is no limit on the number of ABSA form AB-76A’s a Grade C Pressure

Welder may hold at the same time.

 ABSA Form AB-76A is deemed equivalent to a performance qualification card

for the purpose of documenting additional performance qualifications of

Grade C Pressure Welders.

Note 2:

If the initial test is not one of the following two tests -

 Pipe coupon, NPS 2-1/2, schedule 160, 6G position, open root, no backing,

Information Bulletin IB11-002 Rev.1 September 4, 2013

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 Pipe coupon, NPS 6, schedule 80, 2G and 5G positions, open root, no

backing,

the manufacturer with a welder testing program cannot issue additional

performance qualifications that include any of the following:

 a change in product form from plate to pipe,

 a change to all-position, or

 a change to open root with no backing.

For a Grade C Pressure Welder employed by an organization without a Pressure

Welder Testing Program or if the additional performance qualification is outside the

limitations of the initial performance qualification test (see note 2), the process for

obtaining additional performance qualification will encompass:

 Completion of the performance qualification test, as witnessed by a Safety

Codes Officer, and

 Issuance of an additional Grade C Certificate of Competency to successful

candidates.

Subsequent Grade C Pressure Welder Certificate of Competency

A subsequent Grade C certificate will not be issued to a welder who is not in the

Alberta Welding Apprenticeship program or who is not a journeyman welder. It is the

responsibility of the Grade C welder to contact Alberta Advanced Education with

respect to the Alberta Welding Apprenticeship Program.

Subsequent Grade C certificates may be issued to an Alberta welding apprentice,

upon successfully passing a performance qualification test witnessed by a Safety

Codes Officer, until the apprentice becomes an Alberta Journeyman Welder.

An Alberta journeyman welder is expected to attain a Grade B Certificate of

Competency in order to weld pressure equipment. Normally, a subsequent Grade C

certificate will not be issued to a journeyman welder except under special

circumstances. Special circumstances may include a situation where the employer

still urgently requires the welder but the welder requires further training or additional

time to develop the skills necessary to pass the Grade B examination. The

application process for a subsequent Grade C Pressure Welder Certificate of

Competency for a journeyman welder involves:

 Written justification by the employer on behalf of the candidate for acceptance

by the Administrator,

 Completion of a performance qualification test witnessed by a Safety Codes

Officer, upon acceptance by the Administrator, and

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 Issuance of a new Certificate of Competency by the Safety Codes Officer for

maximum 24 months from the test date, after successful completion of the

performance qualification test.

An Alberta journeyman welder or red seal inter-provincial journeyman welder who

was issued a Grade C certificate with an expiry date less than two years from the

date of test, may be allowed to obtain another subsequent Grade C Certificate of

Competency upon successfully passing a performance qualification test.

Background

The Pressure Welders Regulation (AR 169/2002) makes provisions for and

establishes the requirements for Grade C Pressure Welder Certificate of

Competency. This bulletin provides a uniform policy for issuance of the Grade C

Pressure Welder Certificate of Competency.

The Grade C certificate of competency is a temporary certification intended to

provide qualified pressure welders in order to meet the needs of Alberta industry,

while maintaining the level of pressure equipment safety in Alberta. This certification

is also intended to allow welders holding an Alberta Journeyman Welder Certificate

of Proficiency or an Inter-provincial Red Seal Journeyman Welder Certificate of

Proficiency to train and achieve the Grade B Pressure Welder Certificate of

Competency.

The Grade C Certificate of Competency is issued under specific and restricted

conditions that are reviewed and updated as required on an ongoing basis.

K. T. Lau, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Chief Inspector and Administrator

Pressure Equipment Safety

Province of Alberta