Do I have to update my WPSs to the 2025 edition?

It depends on what your contract or AHJ specifies. If the project invokes the 2025 edition, your WPSs must cite 2025 and meet 2025 rules. Many shops maintain parallel libraries during transition periods.

Did the essential variables themselves change, or just the table numbers?

Mostly renumbering. PQR essentials moved from Table 6.5 (2020) to Table 6.6 (2025). But several rows had technical changes — see below.

When was AWS D1.1:2025 approved?

AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2025 was ANSI-approved on 2025-03-19 and is the current edition of the Structural Welding Code—Steel.

AWS D1.1:2025 vs 2020: what changed

The 2025 edition of AWS D1.1 renumbered the essential-variable tables and tightened several technical limits. Here's a focused diff for anyone maintaining a WPS library.

If you maintain a library of welding procedure specifications, the 2025 edition of AWS D1.1 is a real edit, not a stamp-and-print revision. Here is a focused diff.

Table renumbering

The headline change is renumbering. Three tables moved:

Concept	2020 edition	2025 edition
PQR essential variables for SMAW/SAW/GMAW/FCAW/GTAW	Table 6.5	Table 6.6
ESW/EGW essential variables	Table 6.6	Table 6.7
CVN supplementary essential variables	Table 6.7	Table 6.8

If your WPSs cite "Table 6.5" or "Table 4.5" (pre-2020), the auditor will flag the citation in a 2025-edition review. Bulk-update the references when you transition.

Technical changes inside Table 6.6

Several rows changed substantively in 2025:

Row 4 — A5.36 was dropped from the allowed filler-classification list for the GMAW/FCAW process group. If your prequalified WPS used an A5.36 designator on those processes, re-verify against 2025 limits.
Row 7 — the electrode-to-supplemental-filler ratio threshold is now ±10% (the 2020 wording used a different tolerance).
Row 8 — a new –G designator rule was introduced. The 2020 content of row 8 changed.
Old row 36 — the standalone interpass-decrease rule from 2020 is dropped from the 2025 table. The interpass-increase trigger is retained but consolidated.

Technical changes inside Table 6.8 (CVN supplementary)

Row 2(a) — minimum thickness floor changed from 5/8 in [16 mm] (2020) to 1/2 in [12 mm] (2025). If your shop welds plate in the 1/2–5/8 in range and CVN is required, that band is now in scope.
Row 8 — preheat was dropped from the supplementary scope. Only the interpass-max increase still triggers requalification under Table 6.8.

Joint details (Annex B) and prequalified limits

Annex B prequalified joint geometries are largely unchanged, but the table cross-references inside Annex B point to the new 2025 numbering. The most common geometries — B-U2, B-U4, BTC-P4, TC-U4a — still apply.

What to update in your WPS library

A practical migration checklist:

Bulk-replace edition citations on every WPS header (D1.1:2020 → D1.1:2025)
Update Table 6.5/6.6/6.7 references → 6.6/6.7/6.8
Re-check Table 6.6 row 4 filler classifications for GMAW/FCAW
Re-check Table 6.8 thickness range if CVN-required work crosses 1/2 in
Update revision number and date on every touched WPS
Keep the prior revision in the archive

A WPS tool with the 2025 rule set encoded does most of this automatically.

What didn't change

Process scope (no new processes added)
Prequalified base-metal Groups (still I and II carbon steels, plus listed HSLA grades)
The Clause 5 prequalification path
Welder qualification rules (Clause 6 still governs WPQs)

If your shop is mid-project on the 2020 edition, you don't have to migrate immediately — but new project bids should default to the 2025 citation.