First certificates presented under new certification scheme

First certificates presented under new certification scheme

Keywords Awards, TWI, Welding

At a recent ceremony,representatives of TWI Certification Ltd presented the first certificates to be awarded under the newly accredited Welding Fabricator Certification Scheme.

Accredited by the UK Accreditation Service and recognised by the European Welding Federation, the Scheme provides unique certification opportunities for companies involved in fabrication by welding.

At the ceremony, Babcock Offshore and Marine, and Brown and Root McDermott Fabricators Ltd (BARMAC) were presented with certificates to confirm compliance with EN 729/ISO 3834 Quality Requirements for Welding Part 2. The award followed in-depth audits of the welding activities of the two organisations.

Crawford Lochhead,quality, safety and environmental manager of BARMAC, commented, "Being certified by TWI to EN 729/ISO 3834 greatly assisted BARMAC recently when defending the use of European Welding Standards whilst negotiating with a North American client. It demonstrated to our client that we had independent verification of our welding competency and capability at all levels throughout the organisation. That the certification had been achieved via TWI gave additional credence to our proposals."

Babcock Offshore and Marine's quality manager, Steven Heneghan, said that they also expected to reap the benefits: "The offshore business is going through a difficult time at present. We need a competitive edge and we are expecting this scheme to provide it", he said.

The Welding Fabricator Certification Scheme is operated by TWI Certification Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of TWI, World Centre for Materials Joining Technology. Under the Scheme certification is available to EN 729/ISO 3834 as a stand-alone option or in conjunction with ISO 9001/2 certification.