How to Get Welding Certification

How to Get Welding Certification Through AWS

AWS says the Certified Welder program "evaluates a welder's ability to produce sound welds according to a specific welding procedure and code requirement." Tests follow the AWS QC47 specification and happen by appointment at an Accredited Test Facility (ATF). You weld a test coupon, including fit-up, assembly and positioning, and a CWI inspects it.

After you pass, the facility sends your application and test record to AWS, which can take up to two weeks. AWS then emails access to your digital credential two to three weeks after it receives the application. Cost is set by each facility and varies with the process and qualification requirements.

From Test Day to Credential: The AWS Sequence

AWS lays out the Certified Welder process in a fixed order, and the waiting time sits between the test and the credential:

1. Read the AWS QC47 specification and its supplements, which set the rules for every Certified Welder test.
2. Contact an Accredited Test Facility and book an appointment. Facilities test to AWS Standard Welding Procedures, industry specifications, or a company's own procedure.
3. Weld your test. A Certified Welding Inspector checks that you followed the Welding Procedure Specification, including fit-up, assembly and positioning, and inspects the finished weld.
4. The facility sends your application, test record and fee to AWS, which can take up to two weeks.
5. AWS emails access to your digital credential two to three weeks after it receives the application.
6. Keep it active: buy the annual WeldCert Pro subscription and submit maintenance (continuity) records before expiration, confirming you still use the process.

Plan on up to about five weeks from a passed test to a credential in hand. AWS notes the facility's submission time varies, so ask your facility how quickly it files.

School Certificate vs. Welding Certification

A certificate or diploma from a welding program shows you completed its courses. An AWS certification is a record that you passed a specific weld test. Many schools prepare you for, or include, that test: 333 of the 667 verified programs we've reviewed describe AWS, ASME or code-based certification testing on their official pages, and 31 say their campus is an AWS Accredited Test Facility. Ask whether the test fee is included in the program cost.

Welding Certification Cost: What Schools Actually Charge

AWS doesn't publish a single price for the Certified Welder test. It says cost depends on the Accredited Test Facility, the process being tested and the qualification requirements. The clearest numbers come from schools that print their testing terms on their own program pages:

Test pricing as stated on each school's official program page, reviewed September 2026. AWS itself sets no single price; each Accredited Test Facility sets its own.

The pattern: some schools fold testing into tuition or fees, some list it as an optional extra, and some bill every attempt. When you compare programs, add the test fees and the likely retake fees to the tuition figure. Veterans can use GI Bill entitlement for licensing and certification tests for a job that requires one, up to $2,000 per test including registration fees, and VA pays for retakes of the same test while entitlement lasts.

Positions, Plates and Pipe: What Your Certificate Names

An AWS certification isn't a general license to weld. It records the process, the material, the code and the position you tested in. School pages show how specific that gets. First Coast Technical College tests students to AWS D1.1 in stick on plate in the 3G and 4G positions, or on pipe in the 6G position, with the welds witnessed by a CWI and sent to a certified lab. Flathead Valley Community College prepares students for D1.1 limited-thickness, unlimited-thickness and pipe certifications, and requires certificate students to earn at least two AWS qualifications. Advanced Career Institute tests through 6G pipe.

That's why employers ask which test you passed, not just whether you're certified, and why many programs have you test more than once before graduation. George C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville says every graduate completes at least two AWS qualification tests; Advanced Welding Institute requires at least one certification each in stick, MIG and TIG to finish.

AWS Codes and Standards You Test to

Every AWS welding certification names the code and process you tested to. AWS has authored more than 350 standards for welding practices and procedures. Common ones:

• AWS D1.1: Structural Welding Code, Steel
• AWS D1.2: Structural Welding Code, Aluminum
• AASHTO/AWS D1.5: Bridge Welding Code
• AWS D15.1: Railroad
• AWS D17.1: Aerospace
• API 1104: Pipeline
• ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX: pressure piping and vessels

The AWS Certified Welder program covers the structural steel, sheet metal, petroleum pipeline, pressure vessel and chemical refinery industries.

Continuing Education and Advanced AWS Credentials

State and Local Welder Licensing

BLS notes that welders must be licensed in some states and localities, and requirements vary. Some employers require general or specific certification for particular jobs and may pay for the training and testing. School pages show local tests alongside AWS ones: Mt San Antonio College is a licensed testing facility for the Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, and Washington County Community College lists the State of Maine pipe certification with its AWS tests. Check your state's page in our state-by-state guide, and see the full list of schools that are AWS Accredited Test Facilities.