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Federal Wage System Job Grading Standard for Welding, 3703
Welding, 3703

TS-30 May 1974
Federal Wage System Job Grading
Standard for Welding, 3703


Table of Contents

WORK COVERED ........................................................................................................................................ 2

WORK NOT COVERED................................................................................................................................ 2

TITLES .......................................................................................................................................................... 2

GRADE LEVELS .......................................................................................................................................... 2

HELPER AND INTERMEDIATE JOBS ........................................................................................................ 2

NOTES TO USERS....................................................................................................................................... 3

WELDING WORKER, GRADE 8.................................................................................................................. 4

WELDER, GRADE 10................................................................................................................................... 5

WELDER, GRADE 11................................................................................................................................... 6

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
1 Welding, 3703

TS-30 May 1974
WORK COVERED

This standard covers the nonsupervisory work of welding metals and alloys. The work requires
knowledge of electric, gas, and other welding processes such as electron beam welding, and the
skill to apply these processes in manufacturing, repairing, modifying, rebuilding, and assembling
various types of metal and alloy parts, equipment, systems, and structures such as buildings,
aircraft, and ships.

WORK NOT COVERED

This standard does not cover the following work:

-- cutting metal by hand or machine, using flame-cutting, arc-cutting, or other methods (see
Flame/Arc Cutting Series, 3702
, or other appropriate occupations in the
Metal Processing
Family, 3700
); or

-- fabricating, repairing, and installing lead fixtures and equipment using leadburning methods
(see
Leadburning Series, 3716
).

TITLES

Jobs graded by this standard below the grade 10 level are to be titled Welding Worker.

Jobs graded by this standard at the grade 10 level and above are to be titled Welder.

GRADE LEVELS

This standard does not describe all possible grades for this occupation. Some jobs may differ
substantially from the levels of skill, knowledge, and other work requirements of the grades
described in the standard. Such jobs may be graded above or below these grades based on sound
job grading methods.

HELPER AND INTERMEDIATE JOBS

Helper jobs are graded by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Job Grading Standard for
Trades Helper Jobs
. The Grade 8 level in this standard covers the operation of a variety of
electric resistance welding machines, or the use of manual gas torch and electric arc welding
processes to carry out standard, previously done kinds of work. The grade 8 level described in
this standard does not apply to welder jobs that are a part of a planned program of training and
development of skills for advancement to a higher grade. Such trainee jobs are covered by the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
2 Welding, 3703

TS-30 May 1974
standard for
Intermediate Jobs
. (Grade 10 in this standard is to be used as the "journey level" in
applying the intermediate job grading table.)
NOTES TO USERS
1. Incidental duties


This standard is directly applicable only to welding work. However, many welders perform a
variety of other work operations incidental to their welding duties, such as brazing, soldering,
flame and arc-cutting, and surface hardening. Therefore such incidental work operations, other
than welding, are mentioned at different grade levels in this standard.

It should be noted that the standard is not directly applicable to such other nonwelding work
itself. For example, the standard does not provide directly applicable criteria for grading the
position of an employee performing brazing work on a full-time basis, or for determining the
level of the flame and arc-cutting work performed by an employee when these duties are the
highest level and grade controlling work of the position involved.

2. Welding position

The welding position used, to a limited degree, affects the difficulty of welding work. Generally,
the vertical and overhead positions are considered more difficult than the flat and horizontal
positions. However, the use of particular welding positions is, in itself, not grade significant.
Rather in grading welder jobs, an overall judgement must be made considering all the criteria,
including the trade knowledges, skills, and quality requirements described at the various grade
levels in the standard.

3. Work situations

Because of the great variety of work situations in which welding is done in the Federal Service,
no attempt has been made to mention more than a few of them in the standard. However, it
should be noted that work situations or settings, in themselves, do not necessarily determine the
level of welding work involved. For example, the level of the welding work performed in
experiments or research and development activities may range from grade 8 to higher grades
depending on the nature of the welding duties performed.

Similarly, although welding on high-pressure piping systems is used in an example at the grade
11 level in the standard, welding on such higher pressure piping systems does not automatically
exceed the grade 10 level. Rather, the grade 11 level is warranted for such work only when it
requires the degree of skill necessary to meet the level of radiographic standards indicated at the
grade 11 level. Thus, welding work subject to less stringent radiographic standards than those
described at the grade 11 level does not meet this skill requirement and typically is at the grade
10 level. Use of a particular "Navy" work situation in the example described at the grade 11
level in the standard does not mean that other welding work of comparable difficulty may not be
found and recognized in other work situations.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
3 Welding, 3703

TS-30 May 1974
WELDING WORKER, GRADE 8

General
: Grade 8 welding workers apply a variety of electric resistance welding methods and
equipment, or one or more manual welding processes, to carry out standard, previously done
welding operations. For example, they operate various electric resistance welding machines
such as spot, seam, and flash, or use a manual gas torch welding process such as oxyacetylene, to
join a variety of different kinds of parts or components. They determine the welding techniques
and machine settings to be used, assemble and set up the parts to be welded, and make the
required welds following guides such as resistance welding control charts, specifications,
accepted shop practices, and oral or written instructions from the supervisor. Depending on the
process used and the requirements of the work, welds are usually made in flat or horizontal
positions.

Skill and Knowledge
: Grade 8 welding workers apply skill and knowledge to set up and
operate various electric resistance welding machines, or to use one or more manual welding
processes, for example, a gas welding process such as oxyacetylene or oxyhydrogen, and an arc
welding process such as gas carbon-arc or gas metal arc, to weld parts made of commonly used
metals. Welding Workers at the grade 8 level assure proper spacing, pressures, and heat cycles
when operating electric resistance welding machines. They control the torch or arc, and the
positioning and feeding of the welding rod or electrode when welding manually, to prevent
burning of base metals and to obtain the desired penetration and weld bead dimensions.

As needed, grade 8 welding workers apply skill in using jigs and fixtures and in clamping pieces
together to assemble and set-up the parts to be welded. When welding contoured shapes, they
adjust the arms of the electric resistance welding machine to obtain set-ups that will provide
access to all surfaces to be joined. Incidental to the welding work, grade 8 Welding Workers
also may apply knowledge of one or two related trade processes, for example, flame-cutting
when close tolerances do not have to be met.

Responsibility
: Grade 8 welding workers perform welding operations on the basis of written
or oral instructions from the supervisor, and blueprints, sketches, and work orders that clearly
show what is to be done. At this grade level, Welding Workers select the techniques, machines,
materials, and, when needed, the jigs and fixtures commonly used to do the assigned work.

Welding workers are responsible for making welds to meet specifications, and to assure proper
penetration and freedom from poc