BS 4872 Coding

[SiPMerlin150]

Hi everyone!

What exactly is the 4872 code? What I mean are the positions to be welded in, thickness, and anything else to do with the coding.

Is the test piece just one, or do you have to complete a number of test pieces?

It will be mild steel.

Is the testing a bend, X-ray or acid etch?

I will be doing other codes as I see fit through my career, but as you know, inexperienced young individuals stand no chance at finding a job...

 

[snowcat]

4872 is just a basic competency code IIRC, I know of plant fitters for example that were put through 4872 to pacify insurance if they needed to carry out welding on excavators, Lorry's etc.

Just curious why do you think 4872 will help you get a job? Iv yet to be asked to work to 4872, have been asked for other codings over the years tho.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

4872 is just a basic competency code IIRC, I know of plant fitters for example that were put through 4872 to pacify insurance if they needed to carry out welding on excavators, Lorry's etc.

Just curious why do you think 4872 will help you get a job? Iv yet to be asked to work to 4872, have been asked for other codings over the years tho.

At the moment i'm a level 2 NVQ, and just that alone won't get me a job, and to be honest, unless I have any form of experience, all the codings in the world wouldn't land me a job. The coding would be done free of chrge for me, so at least a basic coding will look better than a pile of NVQ certificates, though you cannot beat experience.

Lots of places don't want to know, and won't reply to emails and never get back to you..

 

[wyn]

Vertical and overhead fillets in 10mm plate covers every other position as well.
I think the plate was supposed to be around 75mm wide and 150mm long.

 

[oilcooled :)]

You need to go and meet the boss face to face worst he will do is tell you no, he may say lay a bead down, to see your standard but email imho is a waste of time

 

[TechnicAl]

Basically its whatever you need it to be

You weld a test piece that is a representation of the job that needs welding

So it could be a 6mm fillet on 10mm plate in the flat or it could be a single sided butt weld in 10mm stainless vertically down. These are just examples.

It may be just a visual exam, it may need mechanicals, it may need NDT

It all depends on the job

Then when you weld the job you do it in accordance with the test piece

In other words its a basic welding procedure

 

[SiPMerlin150]

I can comfortably weld open root with bevel flat, upwards, and again, Tee fillets flat, hori/vertical, vertical up, corner welds etc. In MIG and MMA,

I practice a lot on my buzzbox at home to keep in 'tune' and can make very clean runs with minimal undercut.

I knocked this Tee fillet up yesterday, first time I've used my arc welder in 5-6 weeks...

3mm mild steel, 2.0mm elga 6013's @ 60 amps took 4 rods but didn't bother to feather out the stop/starts with a grinder.

The welds look a little worse on the pics than real life ...

What do you think?

 

[hotrodder]

If you want the full details... http://www.scribd.com/doc/63640406/BS-4872-1
Google (or a search of the forum) will get you pics of the various different welding positions.

 

[snowcat]

You need to go and meet the boss face to face worst he will do is tell you no, he may say lay a bead down, to see your standard but email imho is a waste of time

Id agree, you may only get a minimum wage job as a plater, but its a foot in the door , I still doubt holding a 4872 in whatever will actually help much in getting a job.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Id agree, you may only get a minimum wage job as a plater, but its a foot in the door , I still doubt holding a 4872 in whatever will actually help much in getting a job.

Minimum wage will do me fine for the 'foot in the door' factor
I'll try to phone up these local fab. shops for a time I can call in to have a chin waggle with the boss.

 

[PTvor]

I doubt there's any Royal Road to getting to where you want to be and qualifications are useful but only part of the story, being in the right place at the right time are also there. That may seem a tad unfair.

If you're having a chin waggle with the boss, smile and show enthusiasm. The thing you are doing is great, the thing you want to do for them is even better. All a bit unreal, but people like it.

Generally, people would rather take on a happy soul who's OK than a sour genius who's brilliant.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Well, I've rounded up 8 different fabricator/sheet metal work units/companies, all within 5 or so miles of myself, so whilst i'm in work, I will ring each one in turn and ask for possibly an 'appointment' to talk the the boss in person, and discuss what I'm looking for and what i'm prepared to do, e.g as said, minimum wage, basic plating, keeping the guys brewed (hopefully more welding than kettle boiling )

I didn't realise how many fabricators where around, I've got to count at least 12-16 in my area!

Wish me luck fellas!

 

[snowcat]

Yes best of luck,

On a similar vain My wife who gave up full time work when the kids came along wanted part time work, partly for sanity, partly for cash in pocket for Christmas, She phoned up places like tescos etc and got know are. I suggested that she would probably be far better off talking to small business face to face, she went in about half a dozen garden centres that put on Christmas type shops, and was phoned back by one a couple of weeks latter, shes now working every weekend till Christmas, has been asked to do afternoon shifts when there busy, and has also been offered some summer/ spring work...... I very much doubt she would have got any were by emails/ letters etc...

 

[backpurge]

Best of luck fella, you have the right attitude.

You aren't anywhere near Oldham by any chance are you

 

[c4tini]

hello.
I ve got my 4872. I welded a piece of pipe on the flat. tig root and tig cap.
ive seen it asked for in jobs before but none since ive got it. At the end of the day it says you can weld to a set standard.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Best of luck fella, you have the right attitude.

You aren't anywhere near Oldham by any chance are you

Oldham isn't mega far away from manchester, about 8 or so miles.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Well guys, I rang 5 different companies today, 2 were very small family (father & son) business and coudn't afford an extra set of hands, though one directed my to 2 major fabrication firms, one of which is behind my house! the other, not so far away.

The one behind my house had just laid off a load of workers, due to a quiet spell, but would happily accept me to drop by and give them my C.V. and keep it on their file, as to when it picks up they will possibly give me a ring...

Won't hold my breath as things like C.V's tend to go amiss all the time.

The other place does pipe welding, installations, light and heavy fabrication, sheet metal, and plating etc so lots of different areas to look into, These were keen enought to ask for my age, full name and mobile phone number to pass on to the boss who was currently in a meeting.

I will continue my search and theres still a few I need to phone. Early days yet!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

hello.
I ve got my 4872. I welded a piece of pipe on the flat. tig root and tig cap.
ive seen it asked for in jobs before but none since ive got it. At the end of the day it says you can weld to a set standard.

This is what I need, some kind to code that proves to potential employers that I'm able to carry out a quality weld, rather than trying to shove a load of NVQ certificates from a college under the boss's nose..

I'll be 98% certain that my work will be in MMA and MIG, though never tried TIG, though this is due on my course in December/January..

Would you say the 4872 code was pretty straight forward?

 

[Andrew55]

The BS4872 I suspect will require the same tests regardless of process. My MIG test pieces were done in set positions, and a set of pieces destructive tested at the college, and a set sent off for testing by an approved testing centre. Welds had to include a stop start in the middle.
Welds were assessed for general appearance and tidyness of the fillets too.
I would argue that whilst it may not be enough to walk into a top notch job welding, it shows a willingness to put ones work to the test, and that one has a verified degree of competence for basic welding.
Working for a company who have gone to the bother of ASME coding one welder for structural work, to cover them insurance wise, it beats me that the coded welder was coded in MMA, and does much of his structural work with MIG !
The whole issue of Coding is a minefield, and I suspect that a lot of hogwash goes on about it. Where weld quality is of paramount importance I get the feeling that the Code is only a part of it, and weld inspection by ultrasonics and x ray is the other.

 

[backpurge]

To be honest there is a lot of urban myths and confusion around welder approval testing (coding). The level of skill required to pass a 6G pipe test to BS 4872 is only slightly less than to pass it to EN 287 or ASME IX and as for fillet tests the skill level required is probably going to be about the same.

I witness/inspect around 200 weld tests a year and by far and away the biggest failure rates are on 10mm leg length fillets in the PB position on carbon steel plate welded with MAG