If you've ever flipped to the back of AWS D1.1 looking for "the official WPS form," you've landed on Annex M. The samples in Annex M are widely used as templates, but they are explicitly informative — not mandatory. You can use any layout, as long as it captures every code-required element.

What Annex M actually is

Annex M is one of several informative annexes in AWS D1.1:2025. It contains sample forms for:

  • A Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)
  • A Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)
  • A Welder Performance Qualification Test Record (WPQ)
  • Supporting test result blocks (tensile, bend, CVN)

The forms are illustrative. They show one industry-standard layout that captures every required element. AWS publishes them as a starting point so small shops without an established template have something to copy.

Why every shop should know what's on them

Even if you build your own layout, the Annex M samples are useful because:

  1. They define the minimum content set. If your custom WPS form is missing a field that Annex M has, you're missing required information.
  2. Auditors and CWIs are deeply familiar with them. Submitting a WPS in the Annex M layout reduces back-and-forth during review.
  3. They make the WPS / PQR / WPQ linkages explicit. The WPS has a "Supporting PQR" field. The PQR has fields for tensile, bend, and CVN results. The WPQ references the WPS used.

What's on the Annex M WPS form (in order)

  • Identification block — WPS number, revision, date, scope, supporting PQR
  • Welding process — SMAW, SAW, GMAW, FCAW-G, FCAW-S, GTAW, or combination
  • Type of welding — manual, semi-automatic, mechanized, automatic
  • Joint design — groove type, root opening, root face, groove angle, backing, backgouging, joint sketch
  • Base metal — specification, group, thickness range, diameter range
  • Filler metal — AWS classification, F-number, A-number, diameter
  • Position — groove, fillet, progression
  • Preheat — minimum preheat, interpass max, preheat maintenance
  • PWHT — temperature, time
  • Gas — shielding gas, flow rate, backing gas
  • Electrical characteristics — current type, polarity, amperage, voltage, travel speed, transfer mode, electrode-to-work distance
  • Technique — stringer or weave, multi-pass or single-pass, cleaning, peening
  • Signature block — preparer, approver, date

Custom layout tradeoffs

Three reasons shops build custom layouts:

  1. They cover multiple processes on one form. Annex M shows one process per form; a hybrid WPS for GTAW root + SMAW fill is cleaner on a custom dual-column layout.
  2. They embed rule-engine output. A WPS tool that flags Table 6.6 / 6.8 essential-variable status can put a "Rules check: 0 violations" footer on every WPS — invaluable for audit defense.
  3. They include side-by-side range vs Clause 5 limit columns. Helpful for prequalified WPSs to make the safety margin visible.

If you do build a custom layout, run it past a CWI before deploying. One round of red-pen feedback prevents months of audit findings.

The deepest mistake shops make with Annex M

Treating it as a fill-in-the-blank exercise. The forms are structured, but the content underneath each field — the actual parameter ranges, the matched filler, the right preheat for the thickness — has to come from code knowledge and (often) test data. A blank Annex M form filled in by someone unfamiliar with Tables 5.4, 5.8, 6.6, and 6.9 will still produce a non-compliant WPS.

The form is the easy part. The engineering underneath is the hard part.