ISO standard · reference card
ISO 15609-1: what an arc-welding WPS must contain
Does ISO 15609-1 apply to your procedure document? Scope decision flow for the arc-welding WPS content standard, the qualification routes that support it, and the records that show production followed it.
- Designation
- ISO 15609-1
- Issued by
- ISO
- Title
- Specification and qualification of welding procedures for metallic materials — Welding procedure specification — Part 1: Arc welding
- Edition
- Confirm the edition your certification body works to.
ISO 15609-1 is a format standard, not a qualification test. It lists what an arc-welding procedure specification has to state — process, materials, joint design, and the essential variables and their ranges — so a WPS written anywhere reads the same way to anyone who has to follow or audit it.
The confusion this standard prevents is between the WPS and the record behind it. A WPS is only as good as the qualification supporting it: an unqualified preliminary WPS is a draft of intended variables, and issuing it as approved skips the step that proves the procedure works. The second failure is a WPS with no particular format, leaving an auditor unable to check it against the qualification record it claims to summarise.
Therness equipment does not write or approve a WPS. It measures whether a production weld stayed inside the range the WPS states, and ties that measurement to the weld identifier so a WPS revision can be checked against what actually happened on the shop floor.
Scope: does it apply to your job?
Applies to
- Content and format requirements for a welding procedure specification (WPS) covering arc welding
- The document a manufacturer issues to the welder before production, once a qualification route supports it
- Preliminary WPS documents (pWPS) drafted ahead of a qualification test
Does not apply to
- Qualifying the procedure itself — that is ISO 15607 and the qualification-route parts it indexes, including ISO 15614-1
- Processes other than arc welding, each covered by another part of the ISO 15609 series
- Choosing which qualification route applies to a given job
Applicability decision flow
| Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Is the process arc welding? | ISO 15609-1 sets the WPS content requirements for it. | Another part of the ISO 15609 series covers the format for that process. |
| Has the procedure already been qualified under a qualification route indexed by ISO 15607 (ISO 15610, 15611, 15612, 15613, ISO 15614 series)? | Transfer the qualified ranges into a WPS in the ISO 15609-1 format before production starts. | Qualify the procedure first — a WPS without a qualification behind it is a preliminary document, not a production one. |
| Does the contract require an approved WPS on file before welding begins? | Issue and approve it in the ISO 15609-1 format before the first production weld is made. | Still worth doing: a WPS is the operator's only written reference for the qualified range on the shop floor. |
| Is the job built to the ASME scheme instead of the ISO scheme? | Section IX sets its own WPS content and format; the two documents are not interchangeable. | Continue with the ISO 15609-1 format supported by a qualification route indexed by ISO 15607. |
What proves conformity, and what only supports it
Conformity is decided by inspection and testing against the criteria the standard and the contract set. The records below are evidence that the process was held where it was qualified; they support an inspection result, they never replace one.
| Requirement | Record produced | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Confirming production stayed inside the ranges a WPS states | Measured voltage, current and wire feed speed compared against the WPS range, per pass | WeldTrace |
| Evidencing which WPS revision governed a given production weld | Weld identifier joined to operator, timestamp and process record in one exportable set | HeatCore AI |
Evidence the process, not just the paperwork
Therness records what the machine actually delivered on every weld — parameters, thermal signature and a per-weld trail — so a conformity argument rests on measurements instead of recollection.
