Does AWS D1.1 require a written quality control plan?

AWS D1.1:2025 requires that inspection be performed by qualified personnel, that nonconformances be documented and resolved, and that records be maintained — but it does not prescribe a single mandatory QC plan format. Most owners and general contractors impose a formal plan via contract documents. AISC-certified shops must maintain a QC manual as a condition of certification.

What sections must a weld QC plan include for an AISC-certified shop?

An effective weld QC plan for structural steel covers: WPS library management and revision control, welder certification and continuity tracking, base metal and filler metal traceability, in-process inspection hold points, NDE methods and acceptance criteria, nonconformance identification and disposition, and record retention schedules.

How often should we update our weld QC plan?

The plan should be reviewed at least annually, and immediately whenever a code edition change affects your documented procedures — the 2025 AWS D1.1 update renumbered several essential-variable tables and changed specific rule content. Active audits — reviewing welder cert files, spot-checking WPS currency, verifying preheat records — should be routine, not a pre-audit scramble.

Who is responsible for the weld QC plan on a structural project?

Responsibility is shared. The fabricator's QC Manager maintains the documented system and ensures welders follow procedures. The CWI performs inspections per the plan. On projects with special inspection, the owner's special inspector verifies compliance independently. The engineer of record approves the WPS submittal package as part of design acceptance.

Weld Quality Control Plan for AWS D1.1 Compliance

A documented weld QC plan is the backbone of D1.1 compliance and AISC audit readiness. Here's what it must contain and how to structure it for your fab shop.

A weld quality control plan is the operating manual that ties your procedure documents, inspector qualifications, and inspection records together into a defensible system. Without it, compliance with AWS D1.1:2025 is ad hoc — every audit becomes an emergency search through filing cabinets, and every owner's inspector question reveals a gap. With it, the fabricator has a running record of what was welded, who did it, under what procedure, inspected by whom, and with what result.

This article covers what a weld QC plan must contain, how to structure it for structural steel fab, and what auditors and engineers of record look for when they review it.

Why AWS D1.1 Compliance Requires More Than a WPS Binder

AWS D1.1:2025 imposes obligations well beyond producing a set of procedure documents. The code requires that inspection be conducted by qualified personnel, that all tested and accepted procedures be on record, that welder qualifications be documented and current, and that rejectable conditions be formally resolved before the work is covered or placed in service. These obligations are interconnected. A WPS binder alone satisfies the procedure requirement but does nothing to demonstrate that the right welder used the right procedure, at the right preheat, with the correct electrode — and that a qualified inspector verified each step.

AISC-certified fabricators face an additional layer: the AISC certification program requires shops to maintain a written QC manual that defines their quality management system. The manual is a living document, subject to audit by AISC assessors. Shops applying for or renewing certification should treat the QC plan and the QC manual as the same document.

Project specifications frequently go further still. Many owner specs require the fabricator to submit a weld QC plan for review before production welding begins. A plan that exists only in the quality manager's head will fail that submittal.

Element 1: WPS Library Management

The WPS library is the reference baseline for every production weld. The QC plan must define how procedures are stored, accessed, revised, and retired.

At minimum, the QC plan should specify:

Where WPS documents are maintained (physical location, electronic system, or both)
Who has authority to approve a new WPS or revise an existing one
How revision levels are tracked — every page of an active WPS should carry a revision number and effective date
How superseded revisions are controlled so outdated procedures cannot reach the shop floor
Which processes, base material groups, and joint configurations are currently qualified, and which require a new PQR test before production can begin

The WPS library review is often the first thing an engineer of record examines during a submittal review. A shop with 30 active WPS documents and clear revision history reads as a professional operation. A shop that hands over a single unrevised procedure dated five years ago raises immediate questions.

For context on how essential variables affect the scope of each WPS, see our guide to WPS essential variables vs nonessential variables.

Element 2: Welder and Operator Certification Tracking

Every production weld must be performed by a welder or welding operator whose qualification covers the process, position, base material group, and thickness being used. The QC plan must define how the shop tracks this.

Practical tracking requires:

A certification matrix listing each welder's qualification tests, the date tested, the process and position covered, and the date of last documented use of each qualification
A continuity monitoring system. AWS D1.1:2025 Clause 6.4.1 suspends a welder's qualification if they have not used a given process in production for six consecutive months. The clock resets with each documented use — but only if the use is recorded. A quality manager who discovers a continuity lapse during an audit, rather than before production, faces a retroactive paperwork problem.
An onboarding checklist for new welders: WPQ on file before the first arc, qualification scope confirmed to match the assigned work, continuity period starting from the test date

Digital tracking significantly reduces the risk of a continuity lapse going unnoticed. The welder continuity tracking dashboard available to Solo and Pro subscribers on this platform automates this monitoring and generates alerts before the six-month clock expires.

For a detailed walkthrough of how continuity requirements work, see AWS D1.1 welder continuity: the six-month rule.

Element 3: Material and Consumable Traceability

The QC plan should define how base metal and filler metal are controlled from receiving through production.

For base metal:

Mill test reports (MTRs) are received, reviewed against the material specification, and filed before the heat of steel is cut
Material identification (heat number or other traceability marking) is maintained during storage and fabrication
Material substitutions require documented review and, where applicable, engineer approval

For filler metals and consumables:

Certificates of conformance are on file by manufacturer lot or heat number for the filler metals in active use
Low-hydrogen electrode storage is documented: ovens set and logged at manufacturer-specified temperature, hermetic containers tracked for opening date and atmospheric exposure time per the hydrogen designator requirements (H4, H8, H16) in the applicable AWS A5 filler metal standard
Flux storage and conditioning records for SAW operations

See welding consumable certificate and traceability for more detail on filler metal documentation.

Element 4: In-Process Inspection Protocol

The QC plan must identify where inspections occur during production welding, not just before it starts or after it finishes. This is the hold-point and witness-point structure.

A hold point is an inspection gate the fabricator cannot pass without documented inspector sign-off. The most common hold points in structural welding are:

Fit-up acceptance: root opening, bevel angle, root face, and joint alignment verified against WPS tolerances before any fill passes are deposited
Preheat verification: temperature confirmed at the required distance from the joint, before the first arc, by the method specified in the QC plan (contact thermometer or temperature-indicating crayons — not infrared guns on bare steel)

A witness point is a scheduled inspection opportunity that production may pass if the inspector is not present after reasonable notice, but which must be recorded in the inspection log.

The inspection protocol should also specify how in-process checks are recorded — who signs, what form is used, and where completed records go.

For guidance on what CWIs look for at each inspection stage, see weld inspection hold points: what CWIs verify.

Element 5: NDE Program Integration

The QC plan must document the NDE methods required for the project, the technician qualifications required to perform them, and how NDE results are filed.

Typical structural steel NDE documentation includes:

The NDE methods specified by contract (visual, UT, RT, MT, PT — and the coverage required)
Technician certifications: ASNT Level II minimum for UT and RT, with the certification method and expiration documented
The acceptance criteria standard referenced for each method (AWS D1.1:2025 for structural steel)
How rejection findings trigger nonconformance records (see below)
How NDE reports are linked to specific joint locations in the project drawing record

NDE results that are filed in isolation — not connected to joint identification, the weld procedure used, or the welder who deposited the weld — cannot support an audit. The chain of traceability from the NDE report back to the WPS and welder record must be unbroken.

Element 6: Nonconformance Identification and Disposition

Every QC plan must have a defined process for what happens when a weld is rejected. Without a documented process, rejections become informal conversations that leave no paper trail.

A functional nonconformance procedure covers:

How a rejectable condition is tagged or identified on the part immediately upon discovery
How a nonconformance report (NCR) is initiated, who initiates it, and what it must contain
The requirement for a written repair authorization before any corrective welding work begins — corrective welding performed without an authorization is uncontrolled rework
How re-inspection after repair is documented and linked back to the original NCR
What triggers an engineering review versus what the fabricator can disposition internally

The NCR log should be maintained as a project QC record and made available to the engineer of record and special inspector on request.

Element 7: Record Retention

The QC plan must specify how long records are kept and how they can be retrieved. Project-specific records — WPS submittals, welder certifications used on the project, fit-up sign-offs, NDE reports, NCRs — are typically retained for the duration of the project plus whatever period the owner or contract specifies.

Standing records — WPS documents, PQRs, WPQs — have longer retention requirements because they support future requalification decisions. A fabricator that purges its PQR test records has no basis for extending or re-issuing WPS coverage without new test welds.

A clear retention schedule, organized by record type, prevents both inadvertent disposal and the accumulation of records no one can find.

Building the Plan from Existing Documents

If your shop already has WPS documents, welder cert files, and inspection checklists, the QC plan is largely an exercise in formalizing and connecting what already exists. Define the system, name the responsible parties, set the retention period, and publish it. Then update it when the code changes — the 2025 AWS D1.1 edition changed table numbers and several rule provisions, which may require revising your documented acceptance criteria references.

Rule library based on AWS D1.1:2025; verify against your governing edition.