This insurance program does not issue, verify, administer, or manage AWS certifications. Certification information is provided only to help members identify insurance considerations associated with their work.

WPQ

Insurance Guide

Welder Performance Qualification

WPQ

Insurance considerations for Welder Performance Qualification credential holders.

Who This Is For

Welder Performance Qualification (WPQ) refers to the formal process by which individual welders demonstrate their ability to produce welds meeting the quality requirements of a specific welding code or standard — and the documented record (WPQ record) that certifies their qualification. WPQ documentation is maintained by employers, fabricators, and contractors working under code requirements such as AWS D1.1, ASME Section IX, API 1104, and others. Organizations that maintain WPQ programs typically do so because their contracts, customers, or applicable codes require documented welder qualification as a condition of performing welding work.

Insurance Exposures

Organizations that maintain formal WPQ programs — including fabrication shops, welding contractors, pipe welding operations, and manufacturing facilities — are typically working in higher-consequence environments where code compliance and documented quality are contractually required. This means they face the full range of welding business insurance exposures, with particular emphasis on completed operations liability for code-required welds placed in structural, pressure-containing, or high-consequence applications. The general liability and workers compensation needs of these organizations are driven by the scale and nature of their welding operations. Professional liability is relevant if the organization also provides WPQ testing or qualification services to third parties as a professional service.

Coverage Considerations

Professional Liability (E&O)

Relevant for welding engineers, consultants, or inspection organizations that provide WPQ testing administration, welder qualification documentation, or welding procedure specification development as a professional service for clients. Organizations that simply maintain their own WPQ records for in-house compliance purposes are not creating a professional liability exposure — the exposure arises when the qualification service is provided to third parties for a fee.

General Liability

Highly relevant for welding businesses and contractors operating under WPQ programs — they are performing code-required welding in applications where the stakes of a defect are elevated, creating the same general liability and completed operations exposures as all welding operations, but in higher-consequence contexts.

Workers Compensation

Relevant for welding businesses with employees performing code-required, qualified welding operations — the physical demands and hazards of production welding create workers compensation exposure regardless of the qualification level of the welders involved.