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.

WPS/PQR

Insurance Guide

Welding Procedure Qualification

WPS/PQR

Insurance considerations for Welding Procedure Qualification credential holders.

Who This Is For

Welding Procedure Qualification encompasses the development, testing, and documentation of Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and supporting Procedure Qualification Records (PQR) to the requirements of applicable welding codes and standards. Organizations that have qualified and documented WPS/PQR packages — including fabrication shops, welding contractors, pipe welding operations, and manufacturing facilities — are demonstrating conformance to the welding quality requirements of their clients, applicable codes, and regulatory requirements. Qualified welding procedures are a prerequisite for code-compliant welding in most structural, pressure vessel, pipeline, and high-consequence welding applications.

Insurance Exposures

Organizations with qualified welding procedures typically work under demanding contract requirements in applications where code compliance and quality documentation are essential. The completed operations liability exposure for structural, pressure vessel, and pipeline welding operations performing qualified welds is significant — these are high-consequence applications where a weld failure has serious consequences and the insurance claim can be substantial. Professional liability is relevant for engineering consultants, welding engineers, and inspection organizations that develop WPS and PQR documentation as a professional service for clients — because an error in procedure development (incorrect preheat, wrong base metal classification, improper essential variable documentation) can invalidate the qualification and generate claims against the procedure developer.

Coverage Considerations

Professional Liability (E&O)

Relevant for welding engineers, consultants, or inspection organizations that develop, qualify, and certify WPS/PQR documentation as a professional service for clients. An error in procedure development or qualification that results in non-compliant welding or a rejected inspection constitutes a professional services error — and the downstream financial consequences can be significant. Organizations that develop procedures only for their own internal use are not creating a professional liability exposure through the procedure development itself.

General Liability

Highly relevant for the fabrication shops, contractors, and manufacturing operations that perform code-required welding under qualified procedures — their completed operations exposure is significant given the consequence of the applications in which they work.