Framework conditions and interconnections between

European and international standardization

in the field of welding

1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
2 General ................................................................................................... 2
2.1 History .................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Purpose of European standardization ................................................. 2
2.3 Purpose of international standardization ............................................ 2
3 Connections between ISO/TC 44 and CEN/TC 121 ............................. 3
3.1 General connections; Vienna Agreement ............................................ 3
3.1.1 Conceptual differences ......................................................................... 3
3.2 Connection within practical work......................................................... 4
3.2.1 Preliminary voting (PQ) via CEN ....................................................... 5
3.2.2 Unique acceptance procedure (UAP) via CEN ................................. 5
3.2.3 Parallel voting via CEN or ISO ........................................................... 6
3.2.4 Fast track procedure via ISO ............................................................. 6
3.2.5 Standards prepared by the Interational Institute of Welding (IIW) .... 6
4 Concept and classification of ISO and CEN standards ...................... 7
5 Results .................................................................................................... 8
5.1 Survey..................................................................................................... 8
5.2 Connections ........................................................................................... 9
5.2.1 Legal matters ......................................................................................... 9
5.2.2 Connection/reference within standards .............................................10
6 Future development .............................................................................11
6.1 General ..................................................................................................11
7 Summary and prospects ......................................................................11

1 Introduction

This lecture shall reveal the close correlation between ISO and CEN standards on one
hand and their conceptual differences giving each system its justification on the other.

It will answer the question why European standards, although ISO standards cover all
kinds of subjects, so the question seems to be justified why Europeans need their own
standards.

Despite of all differences, European and international standards do approach; especially

via the "Vienna Agreement" by which identical international and European drafts are
published simultaneously in order to prepare identical standards (see 3.1).
 Page 2

2 General

2.1 History

Why standardization, why standards? The answer is given with figure 1.

Figure 1 gives some remarkable information:

a) Since ever, human beings felt a need to fix the technical state of arts and to document
it for education or quality reasons

b) Welding and brazing have a long tradition.

In deed, 5000 years ago, when the first gold parts were brazed, and the first metallic parts
were welded in Egypt nearly 3500 years ago, the foundations were laid for highly effective
manufacturing processes to be used in a wide range of applications.

Welding and brazing remained a manual skill for thousands of years, till numerous
inventions facilitated the industrial applications in the early 20th century.

With the increasing variety of procedures, equipment, requirements, applications, etc.,

standards gained more and more importance.

Experience showed that the different welding processes require an assessment of their
processability before application, and therefore they are classified as "special processes"
according to ISO 9001, Quality systems Model for quality assurance in design,
development, production, installation and servicing.

That standard demands requirements to careful preparation with regard to welding ability,
welding reliability and weldability which have been gathered in technical rules for
manufacturing, comprising a summary of experience and knowledge. These technical
rules had been developped differently due to national habits, e. g. application of units.

The global market, however, requires consistent and harmonized technical rules to which
CEN and ISO make important contributions.

2.2 Purpose of European standardization

The purpose of European standardization is to reduce the technical (non-tarif) barriers for
trade within the European market. When the European market was founded in 1993, the
member countries assigned their competence in important areas to the relevant bodies of
the European Union in order to realize free traffic of persons, capital, goods and services
in the enlarged area of the European Union.

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) founded in 1960 is supported by

19 European member countries.

2.3 Purpose of international standardization

The purpose of international standardization is to prepare standards for the global market.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded in 1947 is supported
by nearly 130 member countries.
 Page 3

3 Connections between ISO/TC 44 and CEN/TC 121

3.1 General connections; Vienna Agreement

The aim of the Technical Committee 121 "Welding" of the European Committee for
Standardization (CEN) has always been to coordinate the European and international
standardization.

This was supported by the "Vienna Agreement" (from 1991) which requires information
and consultation within the ISO and CEN working units and gives the possibility to
establish identical international and European standards by applying the "parallel voting
procedure" (see 3.2.3).

In order to realize the cooperation, basic items were agreed, like

mutual information on the working programmes

participation of ISO observers in CEN meetings and vice versa

sharing or coordinating standardization items

applying the parallel voting procedure in order to get identical ISO and CEN standards.

The Vienna Agreement has proven very effective to align the international standardization
work in ISO/TC 44 "Welding and allied processes" with the European standardization work
in CEN/TC 121 "Welding". The identity of ISO and CEN standards developped under the
parallel voting procedure is reflected by identical standard numbers. Examples are: the
European draft prEN ISO 4063 and the international draft ISO/DIS 4063, or the European
Standard EN ISO 6520 and the International Standard ISO 6520.

In those cases where identical European and international standards had been
developped independently, the standard numbers may differ. But whenever a European
standard is under revision, it will be published under the ISO number, e. g. EN 287 on
welder approval testing will become EN ISO 9606 according to ISO 9606.

Preparing standardization items either in ISO or CEN and offering the results to both
organizations has proven very worthwhile; it has been applied to nearly the whole working
programme of ISO/TC 44 and CEN/TC 121. Nearly 75 % of the European welding
standards and drafts are identical to international standards and drafts.

This practice requires, however, a very early distribution of any information and
participation of observers and experts from both standardization organisations.

3.1.1 Conceptual differences

Three substantial factors distinguish European standardization from international

standardization:

Stand still agreement

It prohibits the CEN members from publishing or revising any national standard on a
subject covered by a European work item as soon as the project is initiated. The stand still
agreement is an important harmonization tool as it reduces separate national standards.
 Page 4

Implementation agreement

European standards have to be implemented into the national standardization system of

all CEN members within six months; similar national standards have to be withdrawn
simultaneously. This agreement guarantees the implementation and the harmonization of
each European standard.

Time pressure

The free exchange of goods and services within the European market is very restricted by
non-harmonized technical rules with different requirements due to additional costs and
different competition conditions. Harmonized technical rules are therefore urgently needed.

3.2 Connection within practical work

CEN is responsible for the European standardization of welding and for the
electrotechnical standardization items CENELEC is responsible. Both organisations are
represented by 19 member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade
Area and the Czech Republic.

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is responsible for the international
standardization. ISO consists of nearly 130 member countries, 29 of which are active
members and 35 members are observers in ISO/TC 44 "Welding and allied processes".

Table 1 shows the relevant units.

Table 1 CEN and ISO committees responsible for

different fields of activity

Field of activity responsible CEN responsible ISO

committee committee

Welding CEN/TC 121 ISO/TC 44

and its 9 sub-committees and its 10 sub-
and 50 WG's committees and 17 WG's

Thermal spraying and CEN/TC 240 ISO/TC 107/WG 1

thermally sprayed and its 4 WG's (former: ISO/TC 107/SC
coatings 5)

Arc welding CENELEC/TC 26 A IEC/TC 26

Resistance welding CENELEC/TC 26 B IEC/TC 26

 Page 5

European and international standardization items are developped by means of well-known

procedures as follows:
a) Technical discussions in working units

This is the mostly applied procedure. In technical committees or working units, European
and international standards are developped under the consensus principle. The interested
parties are represented by their national delegates. For the drafting of European
standards, existing ISO/IEC standards shall be checked for implementation or shall be the
basis for discussions within CEN, whenever possible.

b) Direct adoption of standards or documents of other organizations.

This procedure had been applied mainly in the past, when CEN/TC 121 started its work.
Existing ISO drafts and standards can be implemented as EN standards by means of

the preliminary questionnaire (PQ) or

the unique acceptance procedure (UAP) or

parallel voting.

Existing EN drafts and standards can be implemented as ISO standards by means of

the fast track procedure or

parallel voting.

These procedures are explained as follows:

3.2.1 Preliminary voting (PQ) via CEN

1st step: An existing ISO standard selected for implementation as an EN standard is

circulated among CEN members for three months' review for adoption of that
document with or without modifications.

2nd step: In case of majority agreement, the document is submitted to the formal vote,
limited to two months which only allows adoption as a European standard or
disapproval without any comments based on the result of weighted votes.

3.2.2 Unique acceptance procedure (UAP) via CEN

This is an accelerated procedure done in one step in which the formal vote is already
included:

An existing ISO standard selected for implementation as an EN standard is circulated

among CEN members to decide within a voting period of six months upon the adoption of
that document without any modification.

If 71 % of the weighted 99 votes of CEN are positive, the ISO standard is accepted as a
European standard.
 Page 6

3.2.3 Parallel voting via CEN or ISO

1st step: Drafts developped either within CEN or ISO committees are submitted to the
ISO/TC 44 members and to all CEN members simultaneously to vote within a
period of six months on its adoption as an ISO or EN standard with or without
comments.

The adoption as an ISO standard requires a majority of 75 % of the counted

answers and 66,7 % of the P-members of the technical committee; the adoption
as a European standard requires 71 % positive of the 99 weighted votes of CEN
members.

2nd step: If the result of the "six-months-enquiry" is positive, the draft probably revised
according to comments gathered during the voting period is submitted to the
formal vote in which CEN and ISO/TC 44 members can only decide between
adoption or disapproval without any comments.

3.2.4 Fast track procedure via ISO

The fast track procedure can be applied to any existing standard by request of an ISO
member or any liaison organization for voting and adoption as ISO draft, if the relevant
technical committee was requested and the ISO management council supported this
procedure. For adoption as an ISO standard, the same procedure as for regular ISO drafts
apply.

3.2.5 Standards prepared by the Interational Institute of Welding (IIW)

IIW has been accepted by ISO Council resolutions No. 19/84 as an official ISO body to
prepare international standards. In the past, IIW had had difficulties with the delivery of
documents in time. This situation changed due to new coordination procedures and
agreements within the coordination committee, so that in future a more constructive
contribution can be expected.

IIW was successful in preparation of standards demanding substantial technical and

scientific clarification like determination of hydrogen or ferrite or cold cracking test
procedures.

IIW could prepare standards comprising substantial information and clarification, e. g.

selection of consumables, but not in the sense of documentation of all existing types

IIW should prepare ISO reports explaining difficult standards.

IIW is welcome to prepare proposals in order to accelerate discussions within the

responsible ISO/TC 44 sub-committees. However, IIW shall apply the ISO/IEC directives
and consider existing ISO standards to keep their consistency.

IIW is less suitable for the preparation of standards for which clear concepts and basic
standards exist.
 Page 7

4 Concept and classification of ISO and CEN standards

With regard to the unity and the consistency of international and European standards, it is
important to classify them according to their general validity and their mutual reference.
Standards can be very much simplified, if common or special requirements to the same
specifications are not repeated, but replaced by reference to common standards.

There are three types of standards:

basic standards (specifying common units, general requirements fo drawings,

tolerances)

special basic standards (specifying matters for several applications, e. g. test

procedures, welding requirements, materials)

special standards (product or application standards, e. g. pressure vessels).

CEN/TC 121 distinguishes two types of special basic standards type A and type B
standards.

Type A standards are single standards or a set of standards on each quality

requirement; many requirements are so comprehensive that standardization in a single
document becomes impractical. Then a series of standards is necessary, e. g.
approval testing of welders, specification of approval of welding processes,
consumables.

Type B standards cover items which apply to a limited application, but consider
several requirements like procedure requirements for welding process and all relevant
materials, e. g. stud welding or consumables for all relevant processes and a family of
materials, e. g. Ni consumables.

Standards for welding, cutting, brazing, soldering and thermal spraying can be regarded as
special basic standards, especially those for

communication (terminology, working positions, representation of welds in drawings)

edge preparation

consumables

quality requirements (personal requirements for factory and equipment)

approval of welding processes (testing, test procedures and quality levels).

Special standards are standards covering equipment, product or application standards.

 Page 8

Welding standards follow the principle of horizontal classification, that means they are
valid for a variety of applications with two basic ideas:

They gather proven and commonly valid requirements, however not in the sense of
generalizations, but with the aim to consider the wide range from high to low
specifications by graded classifications so that for any application a selection by
reference or even by restriction is possible.

The weld is considered as a joining element. The weld acceptance criteria must be
fulfilled regardless whether the weld is applied in a ship or a bridge.

By applying this concept, most of the existing standards are more or less contributions to
the achievment of the quality requirements as laid down e. g.

in the ISO 3834 series (EN 729 series) fusion welding,

in the ISO 14554 series for resistance welding and

in the ISO 14922 series for thermal spraying.

5 Results

5.1 Survey

The distribution of the working results within the different working units are given in figure 2
for the European and in figure 3 for the international standardization work. In the field of
welding there are presently

160 international standards (ISO) and

165 European standards (EN),

74 international drafts and

56 European drafts.

These standards apply to communication, consumables, quality requirements, approval

testing of personnel and processes, testing of welds as well as on parts and equipment for
arc welding, for beam welding, for resistance welding, for gas welding and for thermal
spraying. A comparison between the European and international standardization results
are given in figure 4.

The amount of existing standards does not necessarily represent the degree of
harmonization. The effort of harmonization is given by the identical implementation of
standards on the different standardization levels (see figure 5).

Joining element weld

Assessing the standards and drafts with regard to the factors construction, manufacturing
and material, you will see that especially for the factor manufacturing, a system of
standards complementing one another on quality assurance of welds is available. The
concept of these standards can also be applied to other materials and processes by
showing the common specifications, transparency and .
 Page 9

Further common standardization items

For gas welding 22 ISO and 21 EN standards which are nearly identical
equipment there and which specifiy the requirements
are with regard to safety and function;
they are harmonized within the
CEN member countries and are an
offer for harmonization to the ISO
members (see figure 6)

For resistance 33 ISO and 22 EN standards (identical with ISO

welding equipment standards); they support essentials
there are for order and storage in the field of
resistance welding which is mainly
applied in mass production.

For soldering and 23 ISO and 20 EN standards for solders, filler

brazing there are materials for brazing and soldering,
flux and testing of fluxes which will
be supported by standards on
testing of brazed joints and brazers.

For thermal 9 ISO and 11 EN standards (9 of which are EN ISO

spraying there are standards) comprising processes,
principles, spray consumables,
spraying personnel and quality
requirements which support the
safe guarding of quality for thermal
spraying

5.2 Connections

5.2.1 Legal matters

In principle, standards are best recommendations, but they are not legal obligations.
However, they become obligatory if they are agreed by contracts or required by law.

Furthermore, manufacturers and sellers are liable according to the law on product liability
that their products have been manufactured correctly and correspond to the technical state
of affairs.

As standards reflect and document the current technical state of affairs, a certificate
documenting their application will protect from responsibility claims in case of failure. They
also serve as a proof for technically correct procedure.

A special case is given for the European market according to the new approach on
technical harmonization and standardization. European standards support the substantial
requirements in EU directives by clarifying detailed technical requirements (new
approach). If the relevant EU directive refers to a certain standard, it becomes legally
obligatory. That means, the standard referred to has to be observed.

The connection between legal matters provided by the European Commission and referred
to in European standards, which have to be implemented into the national law of the
European Union countries, is shown in figure 7.
 Page 10

5.2.2 Connection/reference within standards

The new approach is applied in e. g.

the Construction Product Directive

the Pressure Equipment Directive

For supporting these direcitves, certain product standards are necessary. A very important
part in the procuct standards are requirements for welding. For these welding
requirements, the existing welding standards can easily be used by reference, that means
the welding requirements need not be repeated.

Welding standards are horizontal standards, they lay down general welding matters
independent of their specific application. The general welding matters are specified by
profiles for requirements, e. g. for welder approval or welding procedures, or levels for the
important influencing factors, e. g. quality levels, to support the manufacturing of a weld.

Figure 8 shows the connection of welding standards with existing product or application
standards. Such a system of connections contributes to transparency, consistency and
comparability of specifications for welding in technical rules.

This approach can be applied generally.

Whenever welding specifications are defined in contracts, order specifications, application

standards or other technical rules, at least the following standards should be considered
for reference (see also figure 9):

Terms and numbers for welding processes according to ISO 4063/EN ISO 4063

Graphical representation of welds and soldered joints according to

ISO 2553/EN 22553

Joint connections and joint preparation according to EN 1708 and

ISO 9692/EN ISO 9692

Quality levels according to ISO 5817/EN 25817 or ISO 13919/EN ISO 13919.

Welding procedure specification according to ISO 9956-2/EN 288-2

Welding personnel

Welders according to ISO 9606/EN 287

Supervision according to ISO 14731/EN 719

Thermal sprayer according to ISO 14918/EN ISO 14918

Manufacturing equipment according to ISO 3834/EN 729

Approval of welding processes according to ISO 9956/EN 288

 Page 11

Welding requirements according to ISO/17671 /EN 1011

Testing of welds: destructive or non-destructive according to the relevant ISO standard

Quality requirements according to ISO 3834/EN 729.

If a weld is described by means of comparable characteristics as shown, the specifications

become transparent and comparable.

Then, a manufacturer is able to produce a product suitable for different applications, or to

manufacture a product for the same application in different factories according to similar
welding specifications.

As a consequence, mutual recognition of certified material, personnel, processes, quality

requirements is possible between different countries, independent of their application.

6 Future development

6.1 General

The future elaboration of welding standards is influenced by the following development:

a) Certain first generation standards need revision due to experience gained in the
course of their application. Changing their contents will influence the existing national
standards. However, basic amendments shall be carefully assessed with regard to the
consequences to standards used for reference in application standards.

b) Due to the international influence, standards will be published for which there is no
need in some countries, e. g. fitness for purpose, welding recommenations. This can
lead to additional requirements or certifications.

c) The influence by the pacific rim states will increase in future. This means further
international standardization philosophies and standardization contents have to be
considered and may in some cases lead to cohabitation standards (see standards on
consumables).

At present, standards with regard to gas welding equipment, welder approval, approval of
welding processes and quality levels are under revision to be aligned with the current
technical state. The revision of the existing standards on approval of welding processes
leads to a nearly perfect offer of manufacturing approvals for different levels and materials.
The present stage is given in table 2.

7 Summary and prospects

The existing amount of international and European standards offers good framework
conditions for welding in the new millennium with special basic standards which allow to
describe the weld or brazed/soldered joint as a joint element.

According to their structure, the standards are indispensable contributions to describe and
to fulfill the quality requirements.
 Page 12

With the consequent application of the Vienna Agreement (see 3.2.3) which allows to
establish international and European standards simultaneously under the leadership either
of CEN or ISO, it is possible to publish European standards supporting the harmonization
of the technical rules in the European market (application standards or EU directives) and
to offer identical international standards to international markets.

Due to the implementation agreement for European standards, these have a mandatory
harmonization degree different from international standards, their implementation into
national standards is optional. It may be expected that the efforts in the World Trade
Organization (WTO) for reducing national trade barriers will require ISO standards more
mandatory in order to support the global market.

We should keep in our minds that for realizing the European market, it took more than 30
years (from 1958 to 1993) to establish the necessary structures and mechanisms for
harmonization of the technical rules.

The necessary participation and the improvement of standards will only succeed, if

the preparation or revision of standards is supported by suitable proposals

sufficient experts participate in the meetings

the secretariats play an active part and control time limits

the interested parties realize their responsibility and support the standardization work
in a satisfactory manner.

Good standards, internationally harmonized and implemented as national standards will

support health and safety, guarantee good quality of products and increase the benefit for
all of us.

Standardization needs careful input, then standardization brings multiplied output.

Berlin, 2000-03-20

zen/fkb

F. Zentner

Encs
Figures 1 to 9
 60

50 projects
prEN
40
EN
number

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5.1 5.2 6 7 8 9 10 TS

technical field

Number of
responsible CEN
key technical field committee/unit EN* prEN* projects
1 welding procedures CEN/TC 121/SC 1 14 6 19
2 qualification of welders CEN/TC 121/SC 2 9 2 2
3 welding consumables CEN/TC 121/SC 3 22 5 15
4 quality management CEN/TC 121/SC 4 15 19 14
(13+2) (18+1) (12+2)
5.1destructive testing CEN/TC 121/WG 13 9 3 17
5.2non-destructive testing CEN/TC 121/SC 5 B 11 1 12
6 terms and definitions CEN/TC 121/SC 6 10 2 8
7 gas welding CEN/TC 121/SC 7 21 1 8
8 brazing CEN/TC 121/SC 8 20 7 6
9 health and safety CEN/TC 121/SC 9 1 5 6
10 resistance welding CEN/TC 121 22 1 2
equipment
TS termal spraying CEN/TC 240 11 4 5
total: 165 56 114

* EN = European standard
prEN = draft European standard

Figure 2: Distribution of European

standardization work in welding (December 1999)
 60

projects
50
ISO/DIS
40 ISO
number

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5.1 5.2 6 7 8 9 10 11 TS

technical field

Number of
responsible ISO
keytechnical field committee/unit ISO* ISO/DIS* projects
1 welding procedures ISO/TC 44/SC 10 14 7 19
2 qualification of welders ISO/TC 44/SC 11 9 2 2
3 welding consumables ISO/TC 44/SC 3 17 16 15
4 quality management ISO/TC 44/SC 10 12 14 20
5.1destructive testing ISO/TC 44/SC 5 5 12 20
5.2non-destructive testing ISO/TC 44/SC 5 7 0 6
6 terms and definitions ISO/TC 44/SC 7 8 4 5
7 gas welding ISO/TC 44/SC 8 22 3 5
8 brazing ISO/TC 44/SC 12 23 1 8
9 health and safety ISO/TC 44/SC 9 0 5 5
10 resistance welding ISO/TC 44/SC 6 33 2 13
equipment
11 arc welding equipment ISO/TC 44/SC 4 1 4 5
TS termal spraying ISO/TC 107/WG 1 9 4 5
total: 160 74 128

* ISO = International standard

ISO/DIS = draft International standard

Figure 3: Distribution of International

standardization work in welding (December 1999)
 projects
400
drafts
350
standards
300
number

250

200

150

100

50

CEN ISO

Number of
standards drafts projects
European 165 56 114

International 160 74 128

total: 325 130 242

Figure 4: Distribution of European and

International standardization work in welding
(December 1999)
 International standards (ISO)

identical International and

European standards (EN)

national standards (DIN)

fabrication standards
(individual manufacturer
oriented standards)

Figure 5: Pyramide of standards

 pressure gauge, EN 562 (ISO 5171)

pressure regulator, EN 585 (ISO 2503)

hose connection, EN 560 (ISO 3253)

hose coupling, EN 561 (ISO 7289)

blow pipe, EN 731 (ISO 9012)

EN 874 (ISO 5186)
prEN ISO 25172 (ISO 5172)

hose, EN 559 (ISO 3821)

prEN 1327 (ISO/DIS 12170)
prEN 34113 (ISO/DIS 14113)

gas cylinder, EN 1800

prEN 1089-1, -2, -3

safety device, EN 730 (ISO 5175)

Figure 6: Standards on gas welding equipment
 European Commission

EU member country

EU Directives implementation
product Personnel
requirements protective
(Art. 95) equipment
national law

Law

EN standards implementation

H HS S national standards
(e. g. DIN EN, BS EN)

H = harmonized standards
HS = harmonized supporting standards
S = supporting standards

Figure 7: Interconnections between law and standardization

(new approach)
 Quality requirements for welding
EN 729-1 to 4 *

Welding
Welder approval Quality level Consumables Testing
procedure test

welder steel steel destructive

(EN 287-1/-2*, steel (e. g. EN 439*, (e. g. EN 910*,
(EN 25817,
EN ISO 9606-3/-5*, (EN 288-3) EN 440*, EN 1320*,
EN ISO 13919-1/-2*)
EN 1418 *) EN 499*) EN 1321**)

Special welding aluminium non-destructive

basic aluminium aluminium
coordinator (EN 288-4) (EN 30042*)
(prEN ISO (e. g. EN 1290**,
standards (EN 719 *) 18273*) EN 1435**)

pressure equipment (EN 764)

reference in
Application application
standards steel structures (ENV 1090)
standard
water tube boilers (EN 12952)
shell boilers (EN 12953)

industrial piping (EN 13480)

*) International Standard/draft available
**) International standard under preparation gas supply (EN 1594 und EN 12732)
unfired pressure vessels (EN 13445)
cranes (EN 12999)
railway (E DIN 6700)

Figure 8: Offer of European special basic standards to application standards