Weld Quality Control Plan: Minimum Elements Under AWS D1.1:2025

AWS D1.1:2025 is a welding code, not a quality management standard. It tells you how to qualify procedures and welders, how to inspect welds, and what acceptance criteria apply. It does not tell you how to organize those requirements into a quality control plan for your shop.

That organizational layer is what separates shops that pass AISC certification audits from shops that repeatedly stumble on the same findings. A QC plan is where you document that you have read the code, understood what it requires, and built a system to implement it consistently.

Here is what that plan must contain, and how shops that survive rigorous audits structure it.

Why "We Follow AWS D1.1" Is Not a QC Plan

In a post-bid audit or an AISC Standard of Practice review, an auditor asking for the QC plan does not want to hear that the code is your quality plan. The code is a minimum standard. A QC plan translates that standard into shop-specific procedures: who does what, when, with what tools, documented how.

When an NCR surfaces—a welder ran an out-of-position weld, a joint exceeded fit-up tolerance, NDE was sequenced incorrectly—the auditor's next question is whether the QC plan should have prevented it. If the plan does not address that element, the finding becomes a systemic gap rather than an isolated event. Systemic gaps are harder to close.

The QC plan also establishes accountability. A code requirement without an assigned owner is aspirational. A QC plan with named roles and documented hold points is a commitment.

Element 1: Scope and Applicable Standards

The plan's first section should identify which codes govern the work—AWS D1.1:2025 for structural steel, with the edition clearly stated—along with any supplementary requirements from the project specification, the AISC 303 Standard of Practice, IBC Chapter 17, or AISC 341 for seismic applications.

If your shop works across multiple projects under different code editions (an owner may still specify D1.1:2020), the scope section must state how you manage edition-specific differences. Running a D1.1:2020 project while your WPS library is built on 2025 table numbering requires documented reconciliation.

This matters specifically for essential variable table numbers: Table 6.6 (primary process essentials) and Table 6.8 (CVN supplementary essentials) in the 2025 edition correspond to Tables 6.5 and 6.7 in the 2020 edition. See WPS essential variables vs. nonessential variables for the full edition comparison.

Element 2: Personnel Qualifications and Responsibilities

The QC plan must identify who is responsible for each quality function:

• QC Manager: Has authority to stop welding, reject welds, and approve NCR dispositions. Typically a CWI, though AWS D1.1 does not require the QC manager to hold a CWI. AISC 203 does impose more specific requirements for certified fabricators.
• Welding Supervisor / Foreman: Responsible for WPS compliance at the arc, pre-weld setup, and welder assignment.
• CWI (Contractor's Inspector): Conducts the inspections specified in the plan. The plan should identify which inspections require a CWI specifically versus which can be performed by a trained inspector under CWI supervision.
• NDE Contractors: Identified by qualification level, method, and employer. AWS D1.1:2025 requires NDE personnel to be qualified in accordance with the applicable NDE standard (SNT-TC-1A, ASNT CP-189, or AWS QC1 for CWIs conducting visual inspection).

Listing names is not sufficient. The plan should describe substitution procedures—what happens when the designated CWI is absent, who is the backup, and what qualifications the backup must hold.

Element 3: Welding Procedure and Welder Qualification Control

This element covers the WPS library: where procedures are stored, how they are issued to the floor, who has authority to approve a new or revised WPS, and what controls prevent an outdated revision from being used.

Include:

• WPS issuance and retrieval procedure (how welders get the applicable WPS for their current assignment)
• Revision control: how WPS updates are communicated to all active users and old copies pulled
• Welder qualification roster: the live roster tracking each welder's qualified processes, positions, and continuity status
• Qualification testing procedure: how new WPQs are tested, who witnesses the test, and how records are filed

For the specific WPS revision control considerations, see WPS revision control best practices and WPS numbering scheme best practices.

Element 4: Inspection and Test Plan (ITP)

The ITP is the operational heart of the QC plan. It lists every inspection activity in weld production sequence and designates each as a hold point (H), witness point (W), or review point (R):

• Hold point (H): Work cannot proceed past this point without a signed inspection. Applicable to fit-up before CJP groove welds, NDE before encapsulation, and weld repairs.
• Witness point (W): The inspector should be present but work can proceed after notification if the inspector does not attend within the agreed window.
• Review point (R): Document review only; no physical inspection required.

A structural welding ITP for a typical beam-to-column moment connection should include, at minimum:

Shops that run the ITP consistently produce the paper trail that makes third-party inspections fast. Shops that treat it as optional produce the paper trail that generates findings.

For the broader ITP framework in structural fab, see welding ITP and inspection test plan requirements under AWS D1.1.

Element 5: Nonconformance and Corrective Action

The QC plan must describe what happens when something fails inspection. This is not just paperwork — it is the mechanism that separates systematic quality management from ad hoc firefighting.

Required elements of the NCR procedure:

• Who has authority to raise an NCR (answer: any inspector, not just the CWI)
• How the NCR is documented (form, number series, electronic system)
• Hold on the nonconforming item: the part or weld cannot proceed until the NCR is dispositioned
• Disposition options: repair, reject and remove, accept as-is with EOR concurrence
• Root cause analysis requirement for systemic NCRs
• Trend tracking: NCRs by type, by welder, by joint type, to identify systemic issues

An NCR log reviewed quarterly—looking for repeating root causes—is how a QC manager closes the loop between individual findings and process improvement.

Element 6: Document Control and Records Retention

AWS D1.1:2025 does not specify a retention period for weld records, but project contracts, AISC certification, and legal exposure all require documented records. The QC plan should specify:

• Where records are stored (physical and/or digital)
• Required records: WPS, PQR, WPQ, inspection reports, NDE reports, NCRs, material certs
• Retention period: most structural projects require records for the life of the structure or a minimum of 10 years
• Access control: who can modify records, and how amendments are tracked

For retention practices that hold up in an audit, see WPS and PQR record retention and welding procedure library for audit-ready documentation.

Element 7: Subcontractor and Supplier Controls

If your shop purchases weld procedure tests from a test lab or uses subcontractors to perform NDE, the QC plan must describe how you verify their qualifications and how their records integrate into your documentation package.

A PQR test weld run at a third-party laboratory is still your PQR—you are responsible for verifying that the test was witnessed by a qualified inspector, that the test records are complete, and that the results support your WPS. The lab's accreditation is a starting point, not a substitute for your own document review.

Building the Plan Before You Need It

The worst time to write a QC plan is during an audit finding or after a weld rejection. A plan written reactively is usually incomplete and often contradicts actual shop practice.

The best approach is to audit current practice first: walk through a typical weld cycle and note what actually happens at each step. Then compare that to code requirements. The gaps between current practice and code requirements are the first things the plan needs to address.

WPS Welding supports the documentation side of this process—WPS library management, welder qualification tracking, NDE reporting, and audit-packet export—so the records you need for your QC plan are organized and accessible when the inspector asks.

Rule library based on AWS D1.1:2025; verify against your governing edition—the AHJ or contract may specify 2020 or an earlier edition with different section numbering.