This is what a buyer checks before they shortlist metals and metalworking suppliers.
What should a fabrication or repair welding shop's website show to prove they can take our job?
A welding shop worth trusting with a job publishes the processes it is qualified in, the materials and thickness range it welds, and the positions its welders are coded for. A procedure qualification record under a named standard is the document that separates a coded shop from an uncertified one. Inspection capability decides whether soundness is verified or asserted.
A maintenance buyer needs a repair or fabrication welded to a procedure their inspector will accept, and is comparing two shops online.
Last corpus review: 4 August 2026 · Written for Welding shopss selling to business buyers
What should a fabrication or repair welding shop's website show to prove they can take our job?
What buyers check in metals and metalworking
Three things, in order: what the product is, what the paperwork proves, and when each document gets asked for.
Quality system, with number and certificati…
ISO 9001 certificate
Asked at: vendor approval
Procedure qualified to a named standard for…
Welding procedure qualification record (WPQR)
Asked at: technical evaluation — often decisive
Individual welders are coded for the proces…
Welder qualification certificates
Asked at: before critical or regulated work
First, what the product is
The fields a buyer scans before deciding whether you are worth contacting. Missing one of them usually ends the visit without an email.
- 1
Welding processes
MIG, TIG, MMA, ARC, spot and submerged arc suit different materials, thicknesses and positions.
- 2
Procedure qualification standard
ISO 15614, ASME IX or AWS D1.1 — the named standard a welding procedure is qualified to.
- 3
Materials welded
Carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium and alloy require different procedures and expertise.
- 4
Thickness range qualified
Procedures are qualified over a thickness range; outside it, the procedure is invalid.
- 5
Welder positions coded
Plate and pipe welding positions (1G through 6G) govern what the welder is certified to deposit.
- 6
Inspection capability in-house
Dye penetrant, magnetic particle, ultrasonic and radiographic testing decide whether soundness is verified or asserted.
- 7
Site work versus workshop
Whether the welder travels to the job or the job comes to the shop is a hard constraint for many buyers.
Then the paperwork
Naming the documents you can issue is what separates a supplier who can be audited from one who cannot.
| Document | What it proves | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 9001 certificateAsked at: vendor approval | Quality system, with number and certification body | Publish it |
| Welding procedure qualification record (WPQR)Asked at: technical evaluation — often decisive | Procedure qualified to a named standard for the materials, thicknesses and positions joined | Name it, share on request |
| Welder qualification certificatesAsked at: before critical or regulated work | Individual welders are coded for the processes and positions required | Name it, share on request |
| Non-destructive test reportAsked at: critical components and acceptance | Dye penetrant, magnetic particle, ultrasonic or radiographic results for weld soundness | Per shipment |
| Material test certificateAsked at: with delivery, often a purchase order condition | Grade and mechanical properties of the parent material welded | Per shipment |
| Sample inspection reportAsked at: new supplier evaluation | What your NDT and dimensional paperwork looks like before the first order | Publish it |
| Sector certification (where relevant)Asked at: by buyers in those sectors | ASME, CE marking under EN 1090 or other sector approval for pressure, structural or marine work | Publish it |
The shortlist moment
A buyer lines up a few suppliers and keeps the ones whose proof is easy to check. The rest get a closed tab, not an email.
The buyer asks: What should a fabrication or repair welding shop's website show to prove they can take our job?
A few suppliers get compared side by side:
A supplier with ISO 9001 certificate on the page
Quality system, with number and certification body
A supplier with Sample inspection report on the page
What your NDT and dimensional paperwork looks like before the first order
A supplier with Sector certification on the page
ASME, CE marking under EN 1090 or other sector approval for pressure, structural or marine work
Is one of them you?
What Plact does for metals and metalworking suppliers
Four jobs, done on your site. Each one is a document buyers in this industry already ask for.
Put the ISO 9001 certificate on the page buyers check
Quality system, with number and certification body
Put the Sample inspection report on the page buyers check
What your NDT and dimensional paperwork looks like before the first order
Put the Sector certification (where relevant) on the page buyers check
ASME, CE marking under EN 1090 or other sector approval for pressure, structural or marine work
Name the Welding procedure qualification record (WPQR) and share it on request
Procedure qualified to a named standard for the materials, thicknesses and positions joined
What a useful enquiry looks like
A form that collects these fields can be answered properly the first time. A form that collects a name and a message cannot.
Enquiry form · welding shops
Enough to reply usefully, short enough that a buyer finishes it.
- Drawing, sketch or photos of the job
- The fastest way to communicate scope and accessibility.
- Material and thickness
- Determines the procedure and whether the shop is qualified.
- Welding specification and acceptance standard
- Sets the inspection regime and the procedure required.
- Site or workshop
- Decides whether the welder travels or the job is brought in.
- Inspection and test requirement
- Non-destructive testing needs planning and adds cost.
- Quantity and required date
- Frame a one-off repair differently from a batch of fabrications.
An enquiry from this search asks for
- Material and thickness
- Quantity and required date
- Site or workshop
- Drawing, sketch or photos of the job
Questions suppliers ask
Why does the procedure qualification standard matter so much?
Because welding procedures are qualified to named standards — ISO 15614, ASME IX, AWS D1.1 — and the qualification defines the materials, thicknesses and positions covered. A shop without a stated standard may weld competently, but a buyer whose inspector requires a WPQR cannot risk an enquiry to one that has not.
Should a small welding shop publish its welder codes?
Yes, summarised by process and position. The fact that individual welders are coded, and the range they are certified for, is the single clearest signal that separates a serious shop from an uncertified one. It costs nothing to publish and is the page a critical-work buyer looks for first.
How important is in-house inspection capability?
For any structural, pressure or load-bearing work it is decisive. Dye penetrant, magnetic particle and ultrasonic testing verify that a weld is sound inside; without them, soundness is asserted rather than evidenced. Stating the inspection equipment in-house moves a shop into a different category for a buyer managing risk.
Documents and standards named here are the ones buyers in this industry commonly ask for; requirements vary by market, customer and contract, so treat this as a starting checklist rather than a compliance list. Clearer pages can help discovery and evaluation. They do not guarantee rankings, AI citations, enquiries or revenue.
Plact Research. Plact's editorial desk for buyer-evidence research. Industry standards, documents and buyer questions are researched and drafted with Plact's AI tools, then reviewed by Praveen Kavuri before publication. Every claim cites the standard, regulation or public source it rests on.
Related buyer questions
- Steel and TMTWhat does a buyer check before placing a steel order with a new supplier?
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- AluminiumWhat does a buyer check before ordering aluminium sections or sheet?
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