Prepare for the American Welding Society Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) credential by mapping each required endorsement to the tasks you need to learn. Compare the current exam formats, check your experience evidence, and work the record-review decision before reading its answer.
How do you earn SCWI now?
For new applicants, AWS replaced the single Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) exam with four required CWI endorsements on April 1, 2025. You may take those four exams in any order.
The endorsements are Welder Performance Qualifier (WPQ1), Welding Procedure Qualifier (WPQ2), Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance (WCQA), and Nondestructive Examination Coordination (NDEC). There are no exam waivers; completing the four does not waive SCWI eligibility or the final application.
Official AWS sources: Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) Program | American Welding Society — AWS SCWI program page, retrieved 2026-09-14; SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025) — AWS SCWI User Guide PDF
Which experience requirements should you check?
The published SCWI route requires CWI certification for at least six of the past eight years with relevant experience, plus 15 years of qualifying work across at least three listed areas.
Those areas include procedure development, work with base metals, welding, discontinuity evaluation, repair-welding planning, written procedures, welder or procedure qualification, code application, quality control and teaching. Check the official list and document the work that supports your application.
AWS B5.1:2025 contains defined education-credit provisions, while the program page describes education as implied by prior CWI certification. If you intend to claim education credit, ask AWS to confirm how the standard applies to your transcripts and experience before relying on a reduced work requirement.
Prepare the employment and qualifying-experience forms, identification and visual-acuity documentation required by the current application instructions.
Official AWS sources: Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) Program | American Welding Society — AWS SCWI program page, retrieved 2026-09-14; SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025) — AWS SCWI User Guide PDF; AWS B5.1:2025 - Specification for the Qualification of Welding Inspectors — Clause 6.3, 6.3.1, and Table 8.2
What should you expect on the four exams?
Each endorsement has its own passing score, time limit and reference policy. The following figures apply to the English forms in the current endorsement descriptions.
The exams are delivered by computer at Prometric. Unscored pretest questions are mixed into the forms and are not identified. Question time excludes additional appointment activities; confirm the full appointment length and any language-form differences when booking.
| Endorsement | Total questions | Question time | Book policy | Pass score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPQ1 | 55: 50 scored + 5 pretest | 180 minutes | Open book | 70% |
| WPQ2 | 55: 50 scored + 5 pretest | 180 minutes | Open book | 66% |
| WCQA | 75: 70 scored + 5 pretest | 150 minutes | Closed book | 70% |
| NDEC | 55: 50 scored + 5 pretest | 135 minutes | Closed book | 72% |
Official AWS sources: SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025) — AWS SCWI User Guide PDF; Welder Performance Qualifier Endorsement Description (Rev. 07.25.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Procedure Qualifier Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; AWS Nondestructive Examination Coordination Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 04.02.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF
What does each endorsement test?
Use each endorsement’s test specification as a separate coverage checklist. The percentages below apply within that endorsement, not across one combined SCWI exam.
WPS means welding procedure specification, and PQR means procedure qualification record. NDE means nondestructive examination. In WPQ1’s topic list, pre-test activities are preparation for a welder qualification test, not the unscored questions included in the exam.
| Endorsement | Tested areas | A useful review task |
|---|---|---|
| WPQ1 | Pre-test activities 30%; conducting the test 40%; post-test records 30% | Review qualification-test preparation, responsibilities, evidence and records. |
| WPQ2 | Planning 30%; WPS qualification and testing 40%; finalizing the WPS 30% | Review qualification requirements, variables, testing evidence and the relationship between a PQR and WPS. |
| WCQA | Welding QA and coordination 40%; general quality programs 30%; auditing 30% | Trace a coordination or audit question to the required records and assigned responsibilities. |
| NDEC | Qualification and certification 20%; methods 30%; coordination 50% | Review personnel qualification, method limitations, inspection plans, sampling and report interpretation. |
Official AWS sources: Welder Performance Qualifier Endorsement Description (Rev. 07.25.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Procedure Qualifier Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; AWS Nondestructive Examination Coordination Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 04.02.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF
Practise a coordination decision from supplied records
Check both required records and the authority assigned by the plan. A missing record does not itself establish a physical weld defect.
This original exercise provides every decision rule as a fictional premise. Its answer applies to the stated paper scenario, not a universal AWS acceptance rule.
Practice exercise
Fictional scenario. Quality plan Q-4 for a fabrication project states two conditions that must both be satisfied before acceptance of any welded joint can be recommended: (1) the current approved Welding Procedure Specification, revision 4, is on file for the joint, and (2) a final, signed nondestructive examination report linked to the joint is available. You are the coordinating inspector. You are given the project packet for joint J17. It contains WPS revision 3 and an unsigned draft NDE report for J17. Every other check in the plan is confirmed as satisfied. Under the plan, you coordinate the review only; the designated quality manager approves all dispositions, and there is no emergency provision. Question: can you recommend acceptance of joint J17 right now, and what do you do next?
Show the worked answer
No. The packet contains revision 3 rather than the required current approved revision 4, and the NDE report is an unsigned draft rather than a final signed report. Flag both gaps, obtain the required controlled documents through their responsible owners and verify them against Q-4. Once the stated requirements are satisfied, route the evidence and recommendation to the designated quality manager for disposition approval.
Both stated conditions must hold, and neither does in the supplied packet. Your role is to coordinate and verify the evidence; the fictional plan assigns disposition approval to the quality manager. The missing or outdated records do not establish a weld defect, its cause or the need for a repair or retest. Keep the recommendation limited to the plan and evidence supplied.
Official AWS sources: Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 04.02.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF
Which references and study method should you use?
Use the current endorsement descriptions and Exam References and Editions Guide to identify the approved references for each exam. Check its physical or digital reference rules before buying or preparing books.
A self-study reading list is different from the references permitted during an exam. WPQ1 and WPQ2 are open-book; WCQA and NDEC are closed-book. Do not assume a printed-book, PDF-search or other interface rule is shared by all four.
As study advice, compare WPQ1 and WPQ2 to identify overlapping topics, then give WCQA and NDEC dedicated review time. Choose your exam order around your knowledge gaps and schedule; AWS permits any order.
- Map missed and guessed practice answers to the specific endorsement task.
- For a reference task, locate the applicable provision and exceptions in the approved edition.
- For a coordination task, state the evidence required and who has authority to decide.
- Revisit unfamiliar areas as well as high-weight areas; a practice percentage does not establish an official result.
Official AWS sources: SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025) — AWS SCWI User Guide PDF; Welder Performance Qualifier Endorsement Description (Rev. 07.25.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Procedure Qualifier Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; AWS Nondestructive Examination Coordination Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 04.02.2025) — AWS endorsement description PDF; AWS Exam References and Editions Guide (last updated August 1, 2025) — CWI/SCWI endorsement sections
What should you check before applying?
Confirm the current application route, exam fees and appointment requirements with AWS or the applicable international agent.
Track the four endorsement results and the evidence required for the SCWI application. Passing the exams alone does not approve the credential.
After certification, renewal is required at years three and six, followed by nine-year recertification. Use the current AWS instructions for deadlines and the route available to you.
Official AWS sources: Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) Program | American Welding Society — AWS SCWI program page, retrieved 2026-09-14; SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025) — AWS SCWI User Guide PDF
Official AWS sources
Facts checked against AWS documents retrieved September 14, 2026:
- Senior Certified Welding Inspector (SCWI) Program | American Welding Society
- SCWI Stackable Credential Guide (05.20.2025)
- Welder Performance Qualifier Endorsement Description (Rev. 07.25.2025)
- Welding Procedure Qualifier Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025)
- AWS Nondestructive Examination Coordination Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 10.14.2025)
- Welding Coordination and Quality Assurance Endorsement Description (Cert. Rev. 04.02.2025)
- AWS B5.1:2025 - Specification for the Qualification of Welding Inspectors
- AWS Exam References and Editions Guide (last updated August 1, 2025)