This European Standard defines the qualification test of welders for the fusion welding of steels.
It provides a set of technical rules for a systematic qualification test of the welder, and enables such qualifications to be uniformly accepted independently of the type of product, location and examiner/ examining body.
When qualifying welders, the emphasis is placed on the welders ability to manually manipulate the electrode/ welding torch/ welding blowpipe and thereby producing a weld of acceptable quality.
The welding processes referred to in this European Standard include those fusion welding processes which are designated as manual or partly mechanized welding. It does not cover fully mechanized and automated welding processes (see EN 1418).