EN ISO 14732:2025 — Welding Operator and Weld Setter Qualification
Qualification test certificates for welding operators and weld setters of mechanized and automatic welding of metallic materials, to EN ISO 14732:2025 — one certificate per qualification, printed in English and Italian. Issued By CAS under its own authority, outside the EGAC accredited scope, with no EGAC or IAF mark.
Standard
EN ISO 14732:2025
Service type
By CAS
Issued under
CAS — own authority
What it is
EN ISO 14732:2025 specifies requirements for the qualification of welding operators and weld setters for mechanized and automatic welding of metallic materials. A welding operator controls or adjusts the welding parameters; a weld setter sets up the welding equipment. Fusion welding is qualified on test pieces by one of four methods — butt or fillet welds to the ISO 9606 part for the material, tube-to-tube-plate welds, overlay welding, or pre-production or production test pieces — and resistance and arc stud welding by their own test pieces. Every method is supplemented by a test of the functional knowledge of the welding unit. A welding operator or weld setter who performed a successful welding procedure test to the ISO 15613 or ISO 15614 part concerned is also qualified to the standard. The standard does not apply to personnel who neither control nor adjust welding parameters nor set up the equipment, nor to friction stir welding or friction stir spot welding, which ISO 25239-3 and ISO 18785-3 cover. CAS currently issues EN ISO 14732 certificates for fusion welding qualified by a test under clause 4.2 (Methods 1 to 4); resistance welding (4.3), arc stud welding (4.4) and the welding procedure test route of clause 4.1 are not yet offered.
Who needs it
Manufacturers that weld with mechanized, orbital, robotic or automatic equipment — steel structures, pressure equipment, piping, and automotive and railway components — and the welding operators and weld setters they employ.
Qualification test
The test is performed in the presence of an examiner approved by CAS, following a work instruction based on a WPS or pWPS. The examiner submits the test record, the reports of the visual and other tests the chosen method requires — which may be carried out by a testing laboratory approved by CAS — and the record of the functional-knowledge test. CAS reviews the evidence, works out the range of qualification from the standard's tables (the examiner may narrow it, never widen it) and issues the certificate.
Validity and confirmation
The qualification begins on the date the test piece was welded, and the method of revalidation is chosen at issue and printed on the certificate (clause 6.3): a) a new qualification test every 6 years; b) every 3 years, two production welds made in the last 6 months of the period are tested by radiographic, ultrasonic or destructive testing; or c) validity for as long as it is confirmed, while the operator or setter works for the manufacturer they qualified for, whose ISO 3834-2 or ISO 3834-3 quality requirements have been verified and who documents that the operator or setter has produced welds of acceptable quality to the application standards. Under all three methods, the person responsible for welding activities or the examiner confirms every 6 months that the operator or setter has worked within the range of qualification; otherwise the qualification becomes invalid.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
Is EN ISO 14732 qualification by CAS accredited?
No. CAS issues welding operator and weld setter certificates By CAS, under its own authority and outside its EGAC accreditation, which covers ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000, 50001 and 22301 management-system certification only. They carry no EGAC or IAF mark. Where a regulation, code or contract requires the qualification to be issued by an accredited body or a notified body, a By CAS certificate does not meet that requirement. For pressure equipment of PED categories II, III and IV, the Pressure Equipment Directive requires the qualification to be approved by a competent third party — a notified body or a recognised third-party organisation — and for simple pressure vessels by a notified body; a By CAS certificate meets neither requirement, and validity method c) is not permitted for PED categories II to IV.
What is the difference between a welding operator and a weld setter?
A welding operator controls or adjusts the welding parameters during mechanized or automatic welding. A weld setter prepares and sets up the welding equipment before welding. The certificate states which of the two the holder is qualified as, and its range.
Can a welding procedure test qualify the operator too?
The standard allows it (clause 4.1): when a mechanized or automatic welding procedure is qualified to the ISO 15613 or ISO 15614 part concerned, the welding operator or weld setter who performed the test is also qualified to EN ISO 14732. CAS does not yet issue certificates on this route: the operator or setter takes a qualification test under clause 4.2.
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