Renew an AWI certificate

Why certificates expire

Because the alternative is worse. A certificate with no expiry says that somebody passed an examination at some point, which is a weaker claim than it looks: a welder who has not run that process in six years may well not pass again tomorrow, and an employer relying on the certificate has no way to know.

Periodic renewal converts a certificate from a historical record into a current statement. That is also what makes the register worth checking, because it carries a status and not just an existence.

What renewal requires

The principle is the same across the schemes: demonstrate that competence has been maintained. The evidence differs.

Welders

Continued welding in the certified category, recorded as you go. A log book is the accepted mechanism, and the reason it exists is that reconstructing three years of work from memory at renewal time does not work and does not convince anybody.

What to record for every relevant job: date, process, parent material and grade, thickness, position, joint type, the standard or procedure worked to, and who can confirm it. A log book signed off periodically by a supervisor is much stronger evidence than one signed once, at the end, in the same pen.

Welding supervisors

Renewal falls due every five years. The holder demonstrates maintenance of competence by providing either evidence of continuous work activity in welding supervision, or evidence of having kept up to date with welding technology.

The date that applies to you

Your certificate carries its own expiry date, and that date is the one to work to. The renewal interval and the evidence accepted for each scheme are set out in the Rules of Certification, AWI-C-M-002, available from the office on request. If your certificate is not in front of you, ask AWI for your expiry date and quote your certificate number.

The renewal fee

Fees are quoted on application. Ask us for the current schedule and it will tell you the renewal fee for your scheme and the member rate. Ask for the fee schedule.

When to act

Before the expiry date, and by a margin. Two reasons.

First, a lapsed certificate shows as lapsed. The register carries the status honestly, and an employer checking you on the morning of an induction will see that it has expired. That is not a technicality on a site with a quality system: it can mean being sent home.

Second, the further past expiry you go, the more likely it is that renewal turns back into requalification, which means training and examination again rather than a submission. Renewing on time is much cheaper than re-earning.

Practical advice: diarise the renewal at the same time you diarise your equipment calibrations, and set the reminder for three months before expiry rather than the week of it.

If it has already lapsed

Contact AWI and say how long ago and what you have been doing since. There are two possible outcomes. If the gap is short and you have continued working in the category, renewal on evidence may still be available. If the gap is long, expect to requalify, because at that point nobody, including you, actually knows whether you would pass.

Ask AWI where you stand before booking training you may not need.

Adding a category is not renewal

Two different transactions that get confused.

• Renewal keeps what you already hold current. Evidence of continued work.
• Adding a category extends what you are certified for: a new process, material or configuration. That requires the practical training and the practical examination for that category, then a fresh submission. The theory does not have to be repeated. Application process.

Adding categories is the most reliable way for a working welder to increase the proportion of available work they are allowed to do, and it is cheaper each time because the theory is already behind you.

Lost certificate or wallet card

A replacement can be issued, and in the meantime the register is the record: an employer can check your certificate without you having the paper at all. That is the point of the system. Ask for a replacement and quote your certificate number if you have it, or your full name and the scheme if you do not. The replacement fee is quoted on application, with the rest of the schedule.