Recently we came across a project where questions arose concerning the welders on the job. The Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) was well written and listed the welders who would be making the welds on the piping being installed. But when asked to see the welders “certification records,” those records were older than six (6) months. Some welders last certification was over five years and only one, the newest hire for this project, had a certification within the past six (6) months. Sadly, the project manager and superintendent both were aware of these deficiencies and their defense… “XXX never used to ask for all this documentation” – i.e., hence we thought we could get away with it! On another sad note, XXX was more upset when they found out they had been paying for certified welders, but all but one of the welders doing the actual work were not certified (i.e., the contractor was making some serious margins on their billable rates) than the fact that about 30% of their pipe installation was not going to be compliant with their chosen RAGAGEP (ASME B31.3)