The U.S. government has developed welding codes that are in use today, such as codes for NAVSEA and military (MIL) standards. Other government agencies that have welding rules and regulations would be the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These agencies rely on the organizations we’ve previously discussed where possible. But for fabrications that are specialized, such as spacecraft for NASA, the agencies review preexisting codes and, if the existing codes do not fully apply to its needs, make substitutions to shore up the existing requirements or create new codes and standards.

Development of Government and Federal Specifications and Standards

Government and federal specifications are developed by the agencies themselves. Some agencies may contract the development of specifications and standards and then publish approved standards.

Government and federal specifications and standards typically have contact information  such as a mailing address. This is a way for those agencies that are maintaining the specifications and standards to receive feedback from the users of the documents. It is unknown if these agencies hold regular meetings that fabricators can attend to provide input in person as other welding codes allow.

Due to the size and breadth of the government and its agencies, this section is a broad overview.

Basics of Government and Federal Specifications and Standards

The U.S. government has different agencies that specialize in purchasing who sets material standards. This specialization within the federal government is similar to the other welding codes, as previously discussed, that reference other codes for material specifications, NDE, and even welding requirements. The U.S. government references other government agencies that are subject matter experts. Government and federal specifications for welding also likely reference welding codes such as the AWS’ for structural fabrications and ASME’s for boilers, pressure vessels, and pressure piping. These government and federal specifications may only reference specific portions of other documents and make changes if different requirements are necessary.

Uses of Government and Federal Specifications and Standards in Industry Today

Some areas government and federal codes are used is in aerospace and defense. The U.S. government has strict rules and regulations for its logistics (the process of buying goods and services). To help ensure that the government gets what it is looking for, and to prevent duplication of requirements, the government has developed standards that specify the requirements for everything it purchases. For instance, NASA has standards for welding and fabrication of spacecraft, such as the crew capsule seen in Figure 17.26.

There are standards for armor plating and welding of tanks. The U.S. Air Force has planes, such as the B-52, that have been in service since 1955. Those planes require fabricators who “are certified in structural and specialized welding for alloy metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, cobalt and magnesium” (Ware, 2018). The U.S. Navy has NAVSEA standards for welding and fabrication of ship structures and systems.

Getting Certified to the Government and Specifications and Standards

Government employees and contractors obtain qualification or certification to government standards as part of their contract. As a civilian welder,  if your employer is contracted by the U.S. government, they would get you qualified or certified to weld in accordance with the contract.

The specifics of each government agency’s requirements are beyond the scope of this textbook. But if these larger projects are of interest to you, becoming employed with a government contractor at a port or maintenance depot, for example, would be worth looking into.

Attributions

1. Figure 17.26: Boeing’s Starliner crew ship approaches the space station on the company’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission on May 20, 2022. by NASA in the Public Domain; United States government work
2. Figure 17.27: Tank Training by U.S. Department of Defense, Army Sgt. Joshua Wooten in the Public Domain; United States government work
3. Figure 17.28: 201014-F-NP461-1266 by U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman Lillian Miller in the Public Domain; United States government work
4. Figure 17.29: An Analysis of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2022 Shipbuilding Plan by Congressional Budget Office in the Public Domain; United States government work. CBO’s products are created by our employees in the course of their employment at CBO and are therefore works of the government. (https://www.cbo.gov/about/privacy)