Pipe Welder (Level 3)

Typical job roles

Manually weld plates and structural components to high standards of quality.

This occupation is found in a wide range of sectors associated with the Fabrication, Construction and upgrade of major capital plant items and facilities. This will include Structural Steel fabrication and construction (e.g. Buildings, Stadia, Bridges, Piers, Jetties etc.), Marine fabrication, construction and upgrade (Ships, Submarines, Wind Turbine Towers), Defence fabrication (armoured vehicles), Process Plant (structures and storage tanks), Engineering Construction (Lifting Beams, Cranes, Construction Vehicles etc.), Mining & Mineral Processing (Shuttering, Structural Supports, Wear Plates, Chutes, Mills, Pulverisers), Transport (Aerospace, Rail and Automotive), and Manufacturing of machinery & equipment. Plate Welders may be employed in any size of organisation from small companies to large multi-national organisations.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to manually weld plate and structural components to high standards of quality. This will involve fabrication, construction or repair of fabricated plate assemblies, extrusions and structural components used often used to fabricate larger components and assemblies. Plate welders will weld to internationally recognised quality standards using more than one manual arc welding process from Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG), Plasma Arc Welding (PAW), Manual Metal Arc (MMA), Metal Inert Gas (MIG)/Metal Active Gas (MAG) and Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) on more than one material group from Carbon Steel, Low Alloy Steel, High Alloy Ferritic/Martensitic Steel, Austenitic Stainless Steel, Nickel & Nickel Alloys, Aluminium & Aluminium alloys, Titanium & Titanium Alloys, Copper & Copper Alloys.

More Information

Typical Tasks

• Install and fit plates into position, join sections, test and repair
• Measure and cut required plate using hand or machine tools
• Join plates together by a manual or automated process.
• Plan, implement and monitor welding resources and activities
• Quality check welds, identify and solve problems

Entry criteria

4 or 5 GCSEs at grade 9 to 4 (A* to C) including English and Mathematics for a Level 3 Apprenticeship Standard

Typical duration

42 months

Career/progression opportunities

This Pipe Welder (Level 3) standard aligns with the following professional recognition:

• The Welding Institute for Engineering Technician

Dependent on employer requirements, progression onto higher level qualifications (HNC, HND, Degree) or a Higher/Degree Apprenticeship