ASTM A 488/A488M : 2009

1.1 This practice covers the qualification of procedures, welders, and operators for the fabrication and repair of steel castings by electric arc welding.

1.1.1 Qualifications of a procedure and either or both the operator or welder under Section IX of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code shall automatically qualify the procedure and either or both the operator or welder under this practice. P-number designations in the ASME grouping of base metals for qualification may be different than the category numbers listed in Table 1. Refer to Appendix X1 for a comparison of ASTM category numbers with the corresponding ASME P-Number designations.

1.2 Each manufacturer or contractor is responsible for the welding done by his organization and shall conduct the tests required to qualify his welding procedures, welders, and operators.

1.3 Each manufacturer or contractor shall maintain a record of welding procedure qualification tests (Fig. 1), welder or operator performance qualification tests (Fig. 2), and welding procedure specification (Fig. 3), which shall be made available to the purchaser's representative on request.

1.4 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard.

1.4.1 SI Units—Within the text, the SI units are shown in brackets.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.