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Beginner's Guide to Reading and Reviewing Welding Documents
Rating: 4.4 out of 5(54 ratings)
217 students

Beginner's Guide to Reading and Reviewing Welding Documents

Basics of a Welding Program including Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and Procedure Qualifications Records (PQR)
Created byRay Harkins, The Manufacturing Academy, Garry Pace
Last updated 6/2026
English
English [Auto],

What you'll learn

  • Key components of a company's welding program
  • An overview of the major welding documents
  • Examples of welding documents
  • What is a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)? And how is it used? What to look for in a WPS?
  • What is a Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)? And how is it used? What to look for in a PQR?
  • How to perform "sanity checks" on your welding documents
  • How to record changes to welding documents
  • How welding documents align with industry standards
  • The most COMMON MISTAKES found on welding documents
  • P numbers, F numbers and A numbers
  • A case study detailing the review of these critical documents
  • And MUCH MORE!!

Course content

1 section • 20 lectures • 2h 51m total length

  • Introduction to the Course8:07

    Discover the essentials of welding documentation, including the welding procedure specification and the procedure qualification record. Learn how these documents fit into a welding program and quality management.

  • Course Notes1:10

    Explore reading and reviewing welding documents with a downloadable 30-page set of notes in pdf, free with this class, to highlight key topics and enhance recall.

  • Parts of a Welding Program, Pt 19:58

    Understand how a welding program functions as a quality culture, outlining key documents like welding procedure specifications, pqr, and welding performance qualifications, plus the role of pre-welding procedure specifications.

  • Parts of a Welding Program, Pt 211:12

    The welding procedure specification is a code-driven recipe detailing welding processes, materials, joint design, gases, positions, and variables; the PQR records the science experiment and essential variables.

  • Examples of Welding Documents3:47

    Learn the welding procedure specification (wps) and procedure qualification record (pqr) with ready-to-use templates and real examples, covering materials, joint design, fluxes, and tensile and bend test results.

  • Introduction to Welding Documents8:39

    Explore the core welding documents—wfps, pqr, and wpk—and how they interrelate, including how one pqr can support multiple wfps or wpk configurations, with examples of customization in welding programs.

  • Introduction to Welding Documents
  • Reviewing PQR's, Pt 111:51

    Learn to review a pqr—the procedure qualification record for welding—by validating code, essential variables, filler and base materials, and lab data to support wfps.

  • Reviewing PQR's, Pt 215:58

    Identify essential versus non-essential welding variables, understand supplementary essential variables for impact testing, and review pqr and wps to ensure code alignment and complete lab test data.

  • Reviewing PQRs
  • Reviewing PQR's, Pt 310:58

    Learn how F numbers and A numbers classify ferrous filler metals, and how P numbers group base and filler metals to streamline weld procedure qualifications per ASME and AWS.

  • Reviewing PQR's, Pt 47:01

    Compare AWS D1.1 procedure qualification by position with ASME section nine, review PQR and WPS nuances, essential variables, and use a formal form to track changes.

  • Does It Make Sense, Pt 111:28

    Critically review welding documents using engineering judgment and a sanity check to assess material compatibility, code requirements, joint design, and skill of the craft.

  • Does It Make Sense, Pt 211:35

    Assess electrode size, filler material, and position against codes and welding procedures. Check root openings, joint configurations, shielding gas, purge, and preheat/post-weld heat treatment for compatibility.

  • Does It Make Sense, Pt 36:11

    Evaluate amperage, voltage, and electrode size against welding procedure and PPS/PQR requirements. Assess transfer mode, current type, joint design, travel speed, and heat input to ensure weld quality.

  • Glossary of Terms2:26

    Explore a practical welding glossary of terms, including heat affected zone, inclusions, and inner pass temperature, to support quality and engineering professionals new to welding facilities.

  • Reviewing WPS's, Pt 110:06

    Learn to read and review welding procedure specifications (wps) and pqr documents, identify essential, non-essential, and supplementary essential variables per ASME code, and assess joint design, backing, and material specifications.

  • Reviewing WPS's, Pt 29:03

    ASME section nine groups base metals into p numbers, letting you weld P1 to P1 or P1 to P8 from a qualified PQR, with or without impact requirements.

  • Reviewing WPS's, Pt 38:39

    Review essential and nonessential variables in welding procedures, addressing positions, preheat, interpass temperature, and welding parameters to build clear WPS guidance.

  • Welding Documents Case Study16:50

    Review wps and pqr for verbatim compliance, compare base materials and shielding gas, and record findings on a structured review sheet.

  • Conclusion to the Course2:35

    Conclude your learning by applying the essentials of reading and reviewing welding documentation, with lifetime access, downloadable materials, and a certificate of completion for continuing education units.

  • Bonus Lecture4:01

    Discover additional welding and manufacturing courses via downloadable resources, including metallurgy and quality engineering topics, with coupon links to the lowest Udemy prices on the day.

Requirements

  • Basic knowledge of manufacturing
  • Some knowledge of welding is helpful

Description

In this course, "Beginner's Guide to Reading and Reviewing Welding Documents", you will learn a basic understanding of welding process documentation and culture, with particular attention paid to two critically important documents -- the Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) and the Procedure Qualifications Records (PQR).

This class is designed for someone with little to no experience in welding, welding documentation, and/or quality systems. Perhaps you're an experienced welder who wants to move their career toward testing, training, and structured quality systems ... then this is the class for you. Or maybe, you're a seasoned quality professional that recently took on responsibility for welding process documentation ... this may be the class you need to grasp the long-standing, welding-specific documentation common to the industry.

The WPS is essentially the recipe, the work instructions welders use to correctly complete a particular weld. Variables like base material, filler material, position, electrical parameters, and shielding gas are specified on the WPS. Engineers develop these WPS's based on industry codes, manufacturers' recommendations, and their own experience and experimentation.

The PQR is used to determine that the proposed welding operation is capable of producing welds that meet the engineering requirements for the intended application. The purpose of the PQR is to establish the finished properties of a particular welding procedure. This is done by recording the results of certain mechanical properties tests on the PQR. Tests like tensile, elongation, and Charpy impact are tests commonly found on a PQR.

Given the high level of detail on these documents, mistakes are common ... even for seasoned welding engineers. This is where the skill of a document auditor really pays off. By understanding the function and intent of these documents, a manufacturing, quality or engineering professional can save their company untold costs and delays.

In this class, you will learn:

  • The key components of a company's welding program

  • An overview of the major welding documents

  • What is a PQR? And what is their purpose?

  • What is a WPS? And how is it used?

  • What to look for in a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)

  • What to look for in a Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)

  • How to perform "sanity checks" on your welding documents

  • How to record changes to welding documents

  • How welding documents align with industry standards

  • The most COMMON MISTAKES found on welding documents

  • P numbers, F numbers and A numbers

  • A case study detailing the review of these critical documents

  • And MUCH MORE!!

By the time you're done with this class, you will have the skills to effectively review WPS's and PQR's to verify their accuracy and usefulness.

In addition to the almost 3 hours of lecture video, when you enroll in this course, you also get:

  • Numerous DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES including blank WPS and PQR .pdf templates, completed examples of a WPS and PQR, and a glossary of welding terminology.

  • LIFETIME ACCESS to it's contents ... all the lectures, all the downloadable resources, and anything added to the course down the road.

  • A CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION (upon completion of the course) indicating your name, the course's name, and the course's time duration.

  • Q&A ACCESS through Udemy to industry leaders who can answer your questions about the course's content.

With all these benefits, you can't lose. Sign up today and start gaining the skills you need to advance your career in welding quality and documentation.

Who this course is for:

  • Welders, Weld Inspectors
  • Quality managers, Quality engineers. Quality Technicians
  • Process engineers, Process technicians
  • Manufacturing managers

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