Table Of Content2007
Annual Report
Excellence in Welding Technology
Qualification and Certification
The European Welding Federation (EWF) and the International Institute of Welding
(IIW) are separate organisations but with a common activity in qualification and certifica-
tion in welding and related technologies.
This activity is administered by a single, joint Secretariat called the EWF-IAB Secretariat.
IAB stands for the International Authorisation Bard which is the part of IIW that deals
with qualification and certification.
In this report you will find information about the qualification and certification systems of
EWF/IAB which have been running for several years and are undergoing continuous and
rapid expansion both technically and geographically. Any individual or organisation that
relies on the competence of people in welding and related activities at any level cannot
ignore the EWF/IAB systems. They feature in regional and international standards and,
more and more, in client specifications.
Please take a moment to look through this report. We will be happy to answer any ques-
tions you may have and to receive any feedback!
www.ewf.be
www.iiw-iis.org
Overview .........................................................................................3
IAB General Activities.................................................................4
Training and Qualification Systems ......................................5
Certification Systems ..................................................................7
EWF General Activities .............................................................8
EWF Projects ................................................................................8
Promotion ......................................................................................10
Treasurer’s Report ......................................................................12
Organisation .................................................................................16
EWF Board of Directors ......... .................................................17
IAB Board of Directors .............................................................17
EWF-IAB Secretariat ..................................................................18
Working Groups ...........................................................................19
ANB Chief Executives ...............................................................20
ANBCC Scheme Managers ......................................................20
1
2
Overview
The year of 2007 was particularly marked by the transfer of
the EWF Certification System for Personnel and Compa-
nies to IIW. Many countries outside Europe have shown
an interest in implementing these systems and IIW is
putting a significant effort in a marketing campaign to
make the worldwide market aware of this opportunity.
Harmonizing certification for manufacturers in accordance
with ISO 3834 for worldwide implementation is a challeng-
ing objective to be achieved by IAB/IIW in 2008/2009. The
worldwide recognition of the quality and value for money re-
lated to the implementation of the International Management
Certification System are the pillars that will help achieving this
target.
Certification of Personnel, namely for welding coordinators,
based on ISO 14731, is each year more required by the com-
panies and welding professionals. The International Harmon-
ised System answers to these requirements and it is referred in
ISO 14731 as a route to achieve certification.
The Certification of Plastic Welders - EN13067, has shown a
significant increase in 2007, demonstrating the need for skilled
professionals in this area.
An important result obtained in 2007 was the completion of
the RAILSAFE System which is based on the draft standard
EN 14730 and is targeted to help railway contractors to have
trained and certified track welders. EWF has developed a sys-
tem for the education, training, qualification and certification
of aluminothermic rail welders on a common European basis,
designed to facilitate compliance with EN 14730-1.
On another topic a reference is deserved to the results ob-
tained in the EU project LEADOUT. The electronic industry
has recently experienced significant changes. The Restriction
of the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, effec-
tive since July 2006, created a mandatory obligation for the
Industry to change from tin/lead solder to a lead-free solder
(LFS), when joining the electronic components to the printed
circuit boards (PCB). Technical solutions, environment im-
pact, life cycle evaluation and lead free process benchmarking
were addressed.
The financial results show a decrease in income related with
the number of diplomas awarded which was largely compen-
sated by income in projects activity. The overall activity has
shown positive financial results in line with budget.
3
IAB
IAB General Activities ANBs
IAB is continuously working with the following aims: Brazil and India became authorised ANBs in 2007 and there are
now in total 34 approved ANBs. USA has decided to re-enter in
• Developing harmonised education, training and qualification IAB, which was most welcomed. Nigeria, Singapore and USA
are the current Applicant ANBs.
systems to provide the welding industry with qualified and
skilled personnel at all levels
• Developing a harmonised international scheme for quality
IAB Group A
companies certification, according to ISO 3834 and certifica-
Education, Training and Qualification
tion of welding personnel with coordination responsibilities
Approval and revision of guidelines as referred in “Training &
• Promoting the interests of the international welding industry
Qualification” IIW System.
through its members worldwide.
A survey to IAB members has been done in the end of 2007 to
IAB is considering including environment and health and safety identify new IIW guidelines to be developed. Destructive Test-
companies’ certification systems in its scope of activities. ing and Mechanized Welding have been some of the identified
areas.
There is a task force analysing the required conditions to in-
The Finnish ANB has implemented the first course for IWSD
clude in the certification of welding personnel systems the cer-
(International Welding Structures Designer). It is foreseen that
tification of international welding inspector four other will do the same in 2008, which proves the need of
this kind of harmonised courses.
IAB organisation
IAB Group B
The IAB business is influenced and controlled by several bodies.
Implementation and Authorisation
A review to the IAB organisation oriented towards the develop-
ment of new strategies for IAB and the direct participation of
Group B is putting a lot of effort and time in reviewing the Ac-
the ANBs in the decision making process was considered nec-
cess Conditions for each education level in each ANB country.
essary for the improvement of the IAB business in the member
Documents for Company and Personnel Certification Schemes
countries. Therefore a task force was set up by IIW Board, in
were carefully reviewed.
January 2008, to review the IAB organisation.
The IIW Secretariat is responsible for promotion and market-
A proposal will be presented in the forthcoming IIW Annual
ing of these IIW Certification Schemes in accordance with the
Assembly in Graz.
agreement between IIW and EWF, when these were transferred
to IAB by EWF.
The Harmonised Examination Database with questions and
IAB finances
answers must now be used by the ANBs in 25% of the exami-
nations questions.
The 2007 result will be close to thirteen thousand euro, simi-
lar, though slightly lower, to the result for 2006. Diplomas printed and awarded
The number of sold and awarded IIW diplomas is not increas- In 2007, 8 596 IIW diplomas were printed, which is a small
ing as expected and consequently not replacing the drop in increase when compared to 2005 and 2006.
income of EWF diplomas that stopped being issued in 2007. During 2007, 6 496 IIW diplomas were awarded which corre-
sponded to an increase of 9% when compared to 2006.
Therefore it was decided to continue issuing EWF diplomas.
These figures are lower than expected considering that new
ANBs are entering the system every year.
Surprisingly very few, less than 1500 IW (International Welder)
diplomas were awarded, which can be compared with 2, 5 mil-
lion welders in the world. In other words there is a huge poten-
tial for all ANBs in what regards welders’ qualification.
4
IAB
Group A – Education, Training and Qualification The number of EWF and IAB diplomas printed and awarded
Group B – Implementation and Authorisation is shown in the table below:
EWF Technical Committee
Continued the development and revision of guidelines
and the improvement of the Training, Qualification and
Certification System with the support of the Secretariat.
The goals achieved in 2007 were:
Training & Qualification Systems
IIW System
Overall considering both IIW and EWF diplomas we can
• IAB-001r3 - “Rules for the implementation of IIW Guide-
lines for the education, examination and qualification of conclude that there was a decrease in the number of diplomas
welding personnel” – new revision approved printed of 8%. The sales of IIW Diplomas totalised 8.328 in
2007 while in 2006 were printed 7.962 diplomas, representing
• Several OPs (Operating Procedures) were revised and ap-
proved, such as: OP-3, 12 and 15 an increase of 5%. The sales of EWF Diplomas decreased in
2007, 6.967 diplomas were printed compared with 8.596 in
• IAB-041-2001 - Guideline for International Welding In-
spection Personnel – under review 2006, representing a decrease of 20%.
• IAB-195-2004 - Guideline for Distance Learning was re-
There was a reduction of 26% in the total number of EWF
viewed to add more qualification levels and was approved.
and IIW diplomas awarded mainly due to the decision to cease
• IAB-252 – Guideline for Personnel with Responsibility for
issuing EWF diplomas. During 2007, 6.496 IIW Diplomas
Welding Coordination - approved.
where awarded representing an increase of 9%. Regarding
the EWF, 2.177 diplomas were awarded which corresponds
EWF System
to a decrease of 63% compared to 2006.
• Guidelines for Adhesive Bonding (EWF-515-01, 516-01, The increase in IIW diplomas did not compensate for the de-
517-01, 529-01) - under review crease of EWF diplomas awarded, and this was partially the
reason for reversing the decision regarding EWF diplomas
• EWF - 581-01 - Guideline for Plastic Welders - under review
mentioned above. This is expected to have a positive impact
• EWF-Pr627-01 – Guideline for Special Course for Macro- in the overall performance of the System in 2008.
scopic and Microscopic Metallographic Examination of
Metals and Welded Joints - under development
• EWF-Pr628-01 – Guideline for Special Course for Welded
Joints Heat Treatment - under development
• EWF-494-01 - Guideline for Special Course for Laser
Processing – under review
• EWF 635-07 - European Aluminothermic Guideline - approved
Harmonised Examination Database
The Database reached the phase of pilot tests:
• The experts evaluated Questions for E/IWE and E/IWT
levels and 1900 questions are now in the database
• The ANBs are in process of translating the questions
• Pilot exams performed by several ANBs
• The Secretariat implemented the Database management
5
IAB
6
IAB
Certification Systems
Personnel Certification System
The EWF Certification Scheme for Personnel for Engineer, The Certification of companies had an increase of 49% in
Technologist, Specialist and Practitioner has continued to be certificates renewed and a decrease of 18% in new companies
used by 5 ANBs with the award of 314 new certificates and of certified.
146 renewals in 2007. The Certification of companies in what regards the EMS
and H&SMS is still not very important in terms of figures,
Personnel Certification Scheme
in 2007, only one company has been reported as certified for
Only New Certificates
EMS scheme.
EWF has agreed to transfer to IIW Companies Certification
System according to ISO 3834 and the Personnel Certifica-
tion System-PCS to IIW.
During 2007 the IIW with the cooperation of EWF started
the development of the IIW Manufacturers Certification
Scheme to comply with ISO 3834.
The implementation will start in 2008, supported with a
strong marketing campain led by IIW which is expected to
generate significant results in the near future.
The Personnel Certification System shows, when compared
to 2006, an increase of 62% of activity regarding new certifi-
cates, and a decrease of 32% in terms of Certificates renewals.
During 2007 the IIW with the cooperation of EWF started
the development of the IIW Personnel Certification Scheme,
which is expected to lead to significant increase of personnel
certification.
Concerning the Certification of European Plastic Welder -
CEPW, 2007 is the third year in which this certification has
been implemented.
Two ANBs are authorised to implement this certification:
Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In 2007 the abovementioned ANBs have awarded 1074 certifi-
cates. In 2006 were awarded 884, thus showing an increase of
21%.
The Certification System for Companies
A new set of documents regarding the EWF Manufacturers
Integrated Certification System, including Quality (ISO 3834),
Environment (ISO 14001) and Health & Safety Management
Scheme was approved.
Results of the EWF ANBCCs are:
• Approximately 585 Companies are using the EWF Manufac-
turers Integrated Certification System
• The ANBCCs network comprises 14 countries
• 85 new certificates were awarded in 2007
7
EWF
EWF General Activities
During 2007 four meetings of the Consultation Groups were held with the aim to gather the EWF members’ opinion on the Mission,
Vision and Strategy of EWF.
Revised Mission and Vision are:
Mission: To provide world class, European focused, value added product and support services to its members and their communities
in the field of joining, welding and related technologies on an international basis
Vision: To be an essential global network in the field of joining, welding and related technologies, indispensable to the members in
the achievement of their strategic objectives.
The short term strategy of EWF has been structured in six main areas of activity and champions volunteered to lead the development
of the respective actions plans.
EWF Projects
During 2007 the EWF secretariat continued its activity in European projects by participating in 8 EU approved projects and cooper-
ating in the development and submission of 13 project proposals. The topics covered by European Projects vary from research on
Ergonomics, Health, Safety, New Legislation, Technological Simulation, etc, to items focusing Training, Qualification and Certifica-
tion of Competences.
The interest of EWF network in participating in these projects has been increasing, now counting with the effective cooperation of
15 EWF members. Therefore, we may ask: To what is due the growing activity of EWF network in EU projects? Summarising, the
activity in EU projects is believed to bring a two-fold benefit: the promotion and recognition of IAB/EWF activities in Training,
Qualification and Research in Welding; and the increased opportunities to be supported in the development of such activities, there-
fore contributing to the competitiveness of welding related industry.
New Projects On-Going Projects
WeldSpread & EuroData SIM - TWB
Accurate simulation of tailor-welded-
In the end of 2007 two new LdV (Leonardo da Vinci) projects blanks to reduce process design time
have started – WELDPSPREAD and EURODATA, gathering for the sheet pressing industry.
the cooperation and expertise of 8 EWF members. Both proj-
ects aim at promoting the EWF system by disseminanting its po-
tentialities in EWF member countries but also in new welding
communities. The support given to the promotion of the System ECONWELD
(WELDPSREAD) and optimization of the Database of Har- Economically welding in a health way.
monised Examination System (EURODATA) will support the
implementation of EWF Qualification/Certification System at a
European level. Therefore, by using EU funding and opportuni-
ties we are improving/optimising EWF system, going in direction
of EWF interests and needs. GLOBAL MAT
GLOBAL MAT
Methodologies, accreditation and train-
Weldiction
ing with outsourced production pro-
One of the areas of Leonardo da Vinci Programme is concerned cess and global production workflow.
to ToI - Transfer of Innovation project, which objective is “to
improve the quality and attractiveness of european VET system
by adapting and integrating innovative content or results from
previous Leonardo da Vinci projects”. In this context, based on HAMSTER
Weldiction, an LdV project finished in 2001 coordinated by EWF, New harmonised models for skills
the Gazi University of Turkey submitted to the Turkish National transfer to SME, identifing a European
Agency of Leonardo da Vinci a new proposal - WELDICTION- plastic welding repository.
TR, to futher develop the multilingual multimedia dicitionary in
welding and joining technologies
8
