Apply for AWI certification
One process for all three personnel schemes. AWI assesses the evidence you submit against the published scheme rules, and issues the certificate when the evidence is complete. Incomplete applications are the reason certificates take longer than they should, so this page is written around getting it right the first time.
Before you apply
AWI endorses qualifications. It does not deliver the training or run the examination, so the application comes after the training and the examination, not before.
Three things have to be true before an application can succeed:
- You meet the entry requirements for the scheme. For welders that is a trade qualification, indentured tradesperson status, or the documented experience route. Welder entry requirements and supervisor entry requirements.
- You have completed the required training, theory and, for welders, practical.
- You have passed the examinations, through an AWI approved training provider. Theory once, then a practical examination for each welder certificate category you are claiming.
If you are not there yet, start at training and examination instead.
What to send
The evidence AWI assesses. Send all of it at once: a partial submission stops the clock rather than starting it.
| Evidence | Welder | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Completed application form for the scheme | Required | Required |
| Entry qualification, or documented experience | Required | Required |
| Statement of attainment for the theory unit | Required | Required |
| Practical training record, minimum 40 hours per category | Required | Not applicable |
| Practical examination result for each category claimed | Required | Not applicable |
| Written examination result for each process claimed | Not applicable | Required |
| Evidence of experience with the applicable process | At least one year | Required |
| Registration fee | Required | Required |
The exact requirements for your scheme and the categories you are claiming are set out in the Rules of Certification, AWI-C-M-002. Ask AWI for the current revision if you want to read it before you apply.
What AWI does with it
- Completeness check. The submission is checked against the evidence list. If something is missing you are told what, once, in writing.
- Assessment against the scheme rules. AWI assesses qualifications issued by training providers anywhere in Australia, against the requirements of the relevant standard and the AWI rules of certification.
- Endorsement. On a successful assessment AWI endorses the qualification.
- Issue. AWI issues the certificate and the wallet card, and enters the certificate on the register so it can be verified immediately.
AWI has published a commitment to issue certificates within four weeks of receiving results, provided the candidate has supplied all the relevant information and paid the registration fee. That proviso is the whole game, which is why the evidence list above is on this page rather than inside a PDF.
What you receive
- A certificate showing your name, the scheme, the categories or processes covered, the range, the date of issue and the expiry date.
- A wallet card carrying the same certificate number, for site inductions and toolbox checks.
- A register entry, so an employer can confirm all of the above without contacting you or AWI. This is what they check.
- A certificate number, which is what makes the certificate checkable. How certificate numbers work, and why an employer needs the number and your surname together.
Fees
Fees are quoted on application. Ask us for the current schedule and we will send you the assessment and registration fee for your scheme, the fee for each additional certificate category, the member rate, and the renewal and replacement fees. Ask for the fee schedule.
If you are getting certified and are not yet a member, ask for the member rate at the same time and join before you apply. The discount on assessment is set to be larger than the membership fee, so joining is the cheaper way to get certified.
If an application is refused
An application can be refused because the evidence does not meet the scheme requirements. If that happens you are entitled to know which requirement was not met and why, and to challenge the decision under the AWI appeals and complaints procedure. The governing documents set out how that works.