4 Steps To Become a Certified Welding Inspector

Key Points

• Certified welding inspectors play a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of welds in the welding industry.
• There are different types of welding inspectors, including structural inspectors and pipeline inspectors, each with specific responsibilities.
• Welding inspectors must possess skills such as communication, attention to detail and organization.
• A welding inspector's work environment involves field and office work, along with physical inspections and report compilation.
• Becoming a certified welding inspector requires training, experience and passing a certification exam, with opportunities for advancement to higher levels of inspection.

Thinking about becoming a certified welding inspector (CWI)? If you have an eye for perfection, are creative and enjoy working with your hands, this could be the career path for you.

Certified welding inspectors play an integral role in the welding industry. Their job is to ensure every weld they examine is high quality, effective and most importantly, up to standard with safety regulations. This career path comes with a lot of responsibility—but it can be incredibly satisfying for those with a passion for welding.

If you’re considering this career, you’re in luck. Keep reading to learn all about becoming a welding inspector, from day-to-day responsibilities to the specific steps to becoming certified.

What Is a Certified Welding Inspector?

Welding inspectors examine the bonds and connections between metals. They rely on electrical instruments and visual tools to analyze welds and ensure they are correct and safe.

Certified welding inspectors most commonly work in the industrial, manufacturing and professional industries, which can take several forms. Some inspectors work in military and defense, while others work in food and beverage processing!

Duties vary by industry. For example, structural inspectors will spend time on site watching welders create structures and digitally examining them.

Some welding inspectors decide they want to go into the pipeline sector. These inspectors, commonly referred to as CPWIs (certified pipeline welding inspectors), will inspect pipelines and oversee the entire process, from the surveying of the ground to laying the pipes, digging up ditches, inspecting the coating that goes over the welds, and finally, covering the pipes. This type of inspector wears many hats, as they are on the job from start to finish.

Welding inspector job description

While there are various types of welding inspectors, the premise of their job is the same — ensuring safe and secure welds. With that said, common duties might include:

• Review and approve welding processes.
• Verify and enforce safety requirements.
• Create, implement and manage quality control procedures.
• Read blueprints, drawings and engineering documents.
• Inspect welds and measure against standards and codes.
• Use various gauges to measure dimensions, angles, depths, thickness and possible corrosion of welds.
• Maintain detailed documentation of inspections.

Welding inspector skills

Common welding inspector skills include:

• Communication: Successful inspectors maintain constant communication with welders, supervisors and managers to ensure everyone stays informed of the project status.
• Paperwork: Inspectors must be well-versed in computers and able to use software such as Excel and PowerPoint to compile their reports.
• Understanding of Welding Vocabulary: Inspectors can walk the walk and talk the talk. They understand AWS (American Welding Society) verbiage, allowing them to work with their team and avoid miscommunications.
• Detail-Oriented: In the welding world, detail is everything. Inspectors should be able to look at a weld and spot discontinuities and defects.
• Organization: If it’s not on paper, it never happened. Inspectors are often working on multiple projects at a time, which means it’s crucial to keep their documentation and records organized for each job.

What’s the work environment of a welding inspector?

Certified welding inspectors are exposed to the elements just like welders are. On any given day, they will spend time on job sites physically inspecting their welds, looking at them and touching them to see the entire circumference of the weld. This career may involve occasional lifting of materials, which requires inspectors to be physically fit.

In addition to working in the field, inspectors spend time in an office setting compiling their reports. According to Chris Hershman, UTI Welding instructor and CWI, inspectors typically spend anywhere from 30-40% of their time behind a computer inputting numbers and making weld maps.

To create these maps, a crew will follow the inspector, and as soon as a weld passes, they mark the location with a GPS locator and the numbers are given to the inspector to put on a map. If a site needs to be revisited for any reason, these weld maps can be referred to.

Benefits & Challenges of Being a Welding Inspector

As with any career, becoming a certified welding inspector comes with both benefits and challenges.

For Chris, one of the best parts about being an inspector is being able to see the process of a job from start to finish. As a CPWI, he’s involved in every step of the process — from creating the path for the pipe to laying it to being able to walk away and see very minimal damage to the environment. Seeing how efficient this process is sparked his passion for the field.

When it comes to challenges, Chris shares that being a welding inspector requires a lot of traveling. For those who love to travel, this is considered a perk, but for Chris, being away from his family has been difficult at times. He also shares that working in welding requires you to have a thick skin and mental toughness. “You can’t expect to be handed a certification or a job. You have to work for it,” he says.

How To Become a Certified Welding Inspector in 4 Steps

At this point, you may be wondering how to become a certified welding inspector. It doesn’t happen overnight. This career requires a combination of training and hands-on work experience. For most, earning welding inspector certification requires these four steps:

1. Attend a welding training program

For those looking to break into the field, a program like the Welding Technology training program at Universal Technical Institute (UTI) may be the perfect place to start.¹ This 36-week program teaches students the procedures and equipment required to weld using gas metal arc (GMAW), shielded metal arc (SMAW), flux-cored arc (FCAW) and gas tungsten arc (GTAW) welders.

Students will also learn how to weld in the flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead positions used for plate or sheet metal, and the fixed, rolling and overhead positions used for pipe.

2. Pursue welding roles

After completing UTI’s program, students are prepared to pursue entry-level welding jobs. “This program is geared towards getting you in the door into the industry above the beginner level,”⁶ Chris says. You’ll be introduced to a variety of different concepts in your courses — including the basic principles of welding, pipe welding, VRTEX® virtual welders and more.

If becoming a certified welding inspector is a dream of yours, Chris recommends getting hands-on experience in the field and perfecting your craft to prepare for your certification.⁷⁷ “Having this time under your belt has a lot of validation when you walk onto a job site,” he says. Being an experienced welder can help give you the background knowledge you need to succeed as an inspector.

3. Test to become an associate welding inspector

After spending some time in the field, welders can apply to test for Certified Associate Welding Inspector (CAWI) certification from the AWS.

If you have a high school diploma or equivalent, you'll need at least two years of welding work experience to apply for the CAWI exam. Welders who do not yet meet the work experience requirement for the CWI exam (5 years) often take this route. Associate inspectors apprentice under certified welding inspectors, gaining valuable experience and knowledge along the way.

Applicants are required to submit proof of their education and work experience, as well as pass a vision test.

Once they do, the AWS encourages welders to sign up for their seminars, where they’ll receive online and in-person training, as well as study materials in preparation for the exam. Once ready, welders can schedule their exam. The CAWI exam is the same as the CWI exam, consisting of three parts.

• Part A (Fundamentals): A computer-based test on destructive testing and welding fundamentals.
• Part B (Practical): A hands-on exam that tests candidates' knowledge of welding procedure specifications and procedure qualification records, inspection tools, inspection methods and the execution of required welds.
• Part C (Code Book): A computer-based test on codes. Candidates can use one codebook of their choosing to aid them.    

If your long-term goal is to become a CWI, you’ll need to pass each portion with a 72% or better. The CAWI certification lasts three years and is non-renewable. Once three years are up, CAWIs can apply for the CWI credential.

4. Apply to become a certified welding inspector

As mentioned above, candidates with a high school diploma or equivalent must have at least five years of welding work experience to become a certified welding inspector.

If they’ve already tested to become a CAWI and passed the exam with a 72% or better, they can submit a form with proof of their 5-year work experience. Once approved by the AWS, they will earn the certified welding inspector credential.  

If they have not been working as a CAWI, they’ll have to apply for the test and should begin the studying process at least six months before signing up for the exam.

After becoming certified, inspectors must renew their credentials at year three and year six and then every nine years afterward.

Certified Welding Inspector FAQs

Do certified welding inspectors have career advancement opportunities?

After nine years, certified welding inspectors can advance to a senior welding inspector position. Senior inspectors often oversee other inspectors and can override their calls if necessary.

How much does a certified welding inspector make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not report certified welding inspector salary, but as we've learned, CWIs begin their careers as welders. The average median annual salary for welders in the U.S. was $48,940 in May 2023.²⁶ This means half earned more and half earned less. Remember that salary depends on several factors including experience, employer, demand and cost of living in the area. 

How much does the CWI exam cost?

The exam costs $1,185 for members of the AWS and $1,450 for non-members. These prices may change. View the most up-to-date prices here.

Interested in Becoming a Certified Welding Inspector?

UTI’s Welding Technology program can help you prepare for a career to be proud of in less than a year. Our hands-on training builds students’ knowledge from the ground up. Upon graduation, students are ready to pursue entry-level welding roles where they can gain the work experience needed to test for welding inspector certification!

Request more information to speak to an Admissions Representative about your goals, and we’ll let you know how to get started!

UTI Campuses That Offer Welding Training

• Avondale, Arizona
• Long Beach, California
• Rancho Cucamonga, California
• Sacramento, California 
• Miramar, Florida
• Lisle, Illinois
• Bloomfield, New Jersey 
• Mooresville, North Carolina
• Exton, Pennsylvania
• Austin, Texas
• Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 
• Houston, Texas