Overview

Washington State is home to a diverse set of industries and welding due to its unique geography that includes seaports, large waterways such as the Columbia River that cuts across the state from Canada traversing down to its southern border, and many different industries throughout the state.

fabrications that can injure or kill in failure, such as bridges, buildings, pressure piping, and boilers, all require certified welders by law or by contract. As a welder, you will be certified to welding codes and standards based upon the material(s), joint type and design, welding positions, and in-service use of the fabrication. If you start a career welding on a ferry or cruise ship, you could be welding to three different welding codes from the following organizations: the American Bureau of Shipping for the hull, American Welding Society for the structure, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for any pressure piping and boilers.

This chapter serves two main purposes: first to provide general information on how welding codes and standards are used, and second to highlight the many professional welding career options that may best match your skills and interests. Welding codes and standards are living documents, meaning they are revised and updated on a regular basis, and that takes hours of study and application of the code to fabrications before they are better understood. As you are reading this chapter, you should have a general understanding of what welding codes and standards exist and find career paths that might interest you. You are encouraged to reach out to your welding instructor, or career placement office or perform internet searches to find out more information about these opportunities.

Attributions

1. Chapter opening image: WA State Ferry Chimacum by Dicklyon is released under CC BY-SA 4.0