347 boost to 3834 scheme

01 August 2010

SAIW Certification’s Welding Fabricators Certification Scheme, which accredits welding fabricators to the SANS 3834 standard, will be boosted by the fact that SANS 347:2010, which is due to be published later this year, affirms that fabricators who design and construct pressure equipment in South Africa to the ASME code, will, inter alia, require SANS 3834 accreditation.

The Welder Fabricators Certification Scheme has been marketed successfully on the basis that it gives fabricators an internationally recognised quality “stamp” both locally and abroad. However, SANS 347:2010, which deals with the categorisation and conformity assessment criteria for all pressure equipment, confirms that SANS 3834 accreditation for the pressure equipment industry is obligatory.

This can only be a positive thing for pressure equipment fabricators as SANS 3834 accreditation is proving a major marketing tool for many of the fabricators who have achieved it through the SAIW, says SAIW Certification’s John McLeish.

Since its inception just over three years ago, SAIW has accredited twenty fabricators, which, relative to many other leading welding nations, is remarkable.

All those interested in certification are urged to contact Sean Blake at SAIW.