How to get a NAKS certificate

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offers its assistance in training and certification of welders and welding production specialists at NAKS.

The presence of NAKS certificates for welding production is required for welders and specialists in order to perform work at hazardous production facilities, in accordance with the requirements of Rostechnadzor.

NAKS welder certificate

In accordance with the regulatory documents of Rostechnadzor, in order to have the right to work at hazardous production facilities, welders and welding production specialists (welding supervisors, foremen, foremen, process engineers) must obtain a NAKS certificate. Today, almost all specialists working in the field of welding strive to confirm their qualifications. One way is to undergo certification or certification. The most common working system is NAKS. It is important that after passing the NAKS certification procedure, the issued certificate is entered into the public register. This makes it possible for welders and their employers to check information on the Internet and confirm the authenticity of documents. Serious large installation companies usually refuse to hire welding specialists without the appropriate certificate. Unfortunately, the validity period of NAKS welders’ certificates is short and the training has to be completed again, which is quite expensive.

What is required to obtain a qualification certificate?

The main condition for obtaining is the successful passing of the exam. For admission to it you need the following package of documents:

for level I:

completed application for certification;
photo 3x4 (2 pcs.);
copy of diploma;
copy of the passport;
a copy of the employment record or an extract from the place of work;
electric welder certificate.

for levels II and III:

completed application for certification;
photo 3x4 (2 pcs.);
copy of diploma;
copy of the passport;
a copy of the employment record or an extract from the place of work;
current industrial safety protocol.

If a candidate is taking the exam under the direction of a company, all submitted documents must be certified by a seal.

Decoding the NAKS certificate

The NAKS certificate indicates which objects and what welding work a certified welder can perform. Certification is carried out depending on the level of professional training and groups of technical devices on which the welding specialist will work.

Deciphering the NAKS welder certificate. Scope of certification

Who is required to pass?

The following are required to be tested:

specialists who do not have certificates and plan to work at facilities controlled by the State Technical Supervision Service of Russia;
specialists authorized to give instructions to other welders;
heads of departments responsible for the technology of welding work and having the right to sign;
heads of relevant services of organizations, whose signature is a necessary condition for the approval of regulatory documents of the organization.

Types of NAKS certificates, certification levels

Level I - certified welder;
Level II - certified master welder. Specialists whose written or oral instructions are mandatory for welders to carry out when carrying out welding work (foremen, foremen, etc.);
Level III - certified welding technologist; Specialists who are heads of individual departments of the enterprise that provide welding work, and whose signature is necessary and sufficient for the use of documents defining the technology of welding work at the enterprise (heads of departments, laboratories, sectors, technical bureaus, heads of working groups, etc.) ;
Level IV - certified welding engineer. Specialists who are managers of the welding service of an enterprise (organization), whose signature is necessary and sufficient for the management of the enterprise (organization) to approve guidelines and regulatory documents for the performance of all types of welding work (chief welders, their deputies, etc.)

Groups of dangerous technical devices:

PTO—Lifting and transport equipment;
KO— Boiler equipment;
GO—Gas equipment;
NGDO—Oil and gas production equipment;
OKhNVP—Equipment for chemical, petrochemical, oil refining and fire and explosion hazardous industries;
MO—Metallurgical equipment;
OTOG— Equipment for the transportation of dangerous goods;
GDO—Mining equipment;
SK—Building structures;

Sample NAKS certificate
To obtain a NAKS certificate, you need to undergo a certification procedure, which is carried out by testing practical skills and theoretical knowledge in accordance with the welding method and the group of technical devices that are welded by the welder in production.

Certification of welders is divided into primary, additional, periodic and extraordinary.

primary certification . During initial certification, welders pass general, special and practical exams.

additional certification to expand the scope of certification. During additional certification, welders pass special and practical exams.

Welders whose NAKS certificate is expiring or has expired undergo periodic certification During periodic certification, welders pass special and practical exams.

extraordinary certification after their temporary suspension from work for violation of welding technology or repeated poor-quality welded joints. During extraordinary certification, welders pass general, special and practical exams.

For good specialists working in the field of welding, it will not be difficult to pass exams to receive a NAKS certification certificate. To do this successfully, you need to know the certification procedure, there are a lot of different nuances in it. It is necessary to decide which objects to choose for certification, welding methods, basic and welding materials, diameters and thicknesses. This stage is the most important because the scope of certification and, accordingly, what specific work a person who has passed certification will be able to perform depends on it.

It is necessary to begin preparation for certification with the regulatory documents in accordance with which certification of welders (I level) and welding production specialists of levels II, III, IV of professional training is carried out, namely “Rules for the certification of welders and welding production specialists” (PB-03-273-99 ) and “Technological regulations for the certification of welders and welding production specialists” (RD 03-495-02).

The next step is to prepare the necessary documents and the application without which will not be allowed for certification

Certification of enterprises and organizations

Companies that engage in welding processes must also undergo NAKS certification. Its goal is to confirm that the company has all the capabilities (technical, technological and organizational) to implement certified technology, and that control is carried out correctly within production. Of course, the presence of specialists confirmed by NACS is a prerequisite.

In this case, the enterprise must have technological documentation that describes the welding process technology used at the facility. In essence, this is a technological instruction on how to competently carry out welding operations. It is usually developed by specialists with higher education. The duration of the NAKS certification will depend on how well the documentation was developed. Inadequacies will only increase scrutiny, which may ultimately lead to refusal to issue a certificate.

Therefore, it is recommended that company specialists prepare well. What will need to be provided to the NAKS commission for this.

Technological map of the welding process.
Instructions.
Agreement that the welding control laboratory conducts periodic inspections.
Quality certificates for welding equipment and consumables.
List of equipment that has already passed NAKS certification.
NAKS certificates confirming the qualifications of the company’s employees.

In the process of checking a company for compliance with NAKS standards, welded joints are usually examined. Both destructive and non-destructive methods are used here. Welding equipment is also checked. If all standards are met, a certificate is issued. It is signed by the members of the commission indicating their name and position. The certificate is valid for 4 years.

As for testing equipment, it is certified according to technical characteristics, which must correspond to the indicators in the accompanying documents (passport). A deviation to the lower side gives the commission the right not to accept it as possibly used during welding operations. The same goes for consumables. If they are produced in serial batches, then the certificate is issued for three years, if in small-scale batches, then for one year. The completeness of the technological equipment must be checked.

During testing, all systems are checked: electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical. Typically, the test takes place in the form of welding the joint of two metals. Based on this, the assessment is given.

Documents for NAKS certification

To undergo the NAKS certification procedure and obtain a certificate, it is necessary to prepare the documents specified in the rules for certification of welders and welding production specialists:

A certificate of experience in welding from the employer or a certified copy of the work book;
A medical certificate in the established form confirming the person’s state of health that the person can perform welding work and does not have any contraindications (it is better to check the mandatory nature of the certificate in a specific certification center, since not everyone requires it, this way you can avoid unnecessary expenses;
Documents confirming the qualification category for the welding method;
Education documents, certificate, diploma or welder's certificate;
Consent to the processing of personal data;
Photos in 3x4 format, 2 pieces.

Which welding machines are not subject to certification?

Only equipment whose use is necessary for the manufacture of structures and products used at high-risk facilities is subject to NAKS certification. There is no point in checking inverters and cooking devices used in everyday life.

Sergey Trefilov, welding production engineer, 16 years of work experience: “Certification of welding equipment at NAKS Centers is a recommended and not mandatory (yet) procedure. But for any enterprise seeking to occupy its niche in the market, obtaining a Certificate is vital in order to receive an increase from existing and potential customers.”

NAKS certification procedure

When all the documents have been collected, you can submit an application to the certification center. The application can usually be submitted on the website of the center where the certification will take place. For individuals undergoing certification, the center's staff can help complete the application. It is very important to correctly determine the type of work and the area of certification that will be indicated on the certificate, so that there are no “surprises” upon arrival at work. Each type of work requires its own certificate, therefore, the welder receives access only to the type of work for which he is certified. Asking for everything in a row is not an option, because the cost of certification will be incredibly high. It is better to start this process in advance; in many centers, submitted documents can take a very long time to be considered.

After the application with a set of documents is satisfied with the NAKS employees, they will set dates for special training and dates for practical and theoretical exams.

During the practical exam, welders must weld control samples and specialists must complete a written practical task. After the practical exam, the brewed samples are monitored; if the results are satisfactory, a date for the theoretical exam is set; if the results are unsatisfactory, the candidate is considered to have failed the certification;

During the theoretical exam, you need to pass testing on the declared objects of certification and the welding method, for a specialist of the level for which certification is being carried out. The theoretical examination is carried out in written form or using a computer. The welder is considered to have passed the test if he correctly answered at least 80% of the questions asked. It must be said that the questions can be very diverse, including those not related to the direct work of the specialist. Therefore, it is a good idea to prepare for passing the theoretical exam; certification questions can be found on the Internet.

The entire certification procedure lasts from a week to a month. After successfully passing the certification, a protocol and a certificate are issued; the preparation of these documents can take several days, or even weeks. When receiving a certificate, you must check your data and the scope of certification for compliance with the application. Despite the high cost of certification, employees of some centers are quite negligent in their duties and mistakes are possible. The received certificate is considered valid if it is entered into the register of the welding production certification system. How to check the presence of an entry in the registry, read the article How to check the authenticity of a NAKS certificate.

How to get certified

Before receiving a certification certificate, each NAKS welder must sequentially complete the following points:

Prepare a package of documents. It includes papers confirming your education, current rank and length of experience, as well as a medical certificate and two photographs measuring 3 by 4 cm. If you have completed training courses, then you should also include a certificate of completion.
Provide this package to the nearest regional center and fill out an application to take the exam.
Wait for the results of the review. As a rule, the waiting time does not exceed 3 days. The result is provided to the applicant in writing and contains an indication of the date for which the tests are scheduled. If the examination is refused, the reasons for the refusal must be indicated.
Pass the theoretical exam. It usually consists of 15-20 questions.
Pass the practical exam.
Wait for the certification results. If the exams were passed successfully, then within 2 weeks you will receive a NAKS welder certificate, and your data will be entered into the electronic and paper registers. If the result is unsatisfactory, then you can try again within 1 to 6 months from the date of passing the exam. In this case, you will need to pay the full cost of the exam again.

How much does it cost to get a NAKS certificate?

There are no uniform prices for certification. Prices greatly depend on the specific certification center you contact and the required distribution area. On average in Russia, a NAKS welder’s certificate will cost from 25,000 to 150,000 rubles, a welding specialist (master, foreman, etc.) from 15,000 to 90,000 rubles. It is worth noting that this is quite expensive, but alas, NAKS is a private commercial organization and sets prices at its own discretion.

On the Internet you can find a lot of advertisements with offers to buy NAKS. At the same time, the cost will be much higher than in the official certification center and we must not forget that you can fall for scammers.

How to recover

If certification documents are lost or stolen, you can obtain a duplicate of the certificate and protocols. Unfortunately, NAKS does not have a single archive. You can only restore your ID by contacting the center that conducted the certification. If this center is buried, then it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore the documents. Fortunately, as a rule, duplicate documents are issued without charging a fee. But the issuance of a duplicate NAKS certificate may be refused if it was not you who paid for it during certification, but your employer. Then you will need to obtain permission from him to receive a duplicate.

For metal materials

RD (111) - Manual arc welding with coated electrodes.
RDN (111) - Manual arc surfacing with coated electrodes. RAD (141) - Manual argon arc welding with a non-consumable electrode. RADN (141) — Manual argon arc surfacing. MP (135) — Mechanized welding with a consumable electrode in active gases and mixtures. MPN (135) - Mechanized surfacing with a consumable electrode in an environment of active gases and mixtures. MADP (131) - Mechanized argon arc welding with a consumable electrode. MADPN (131) — Mechanized argon-arc surfacing with a consumable electrode. MPG (136) — Mechanized welding with flux-cored wire in active gases and mixtures. MPGN (136) — Mechanized surfacing with flux-cored wire in active gases and mixtures. MPI (137) — Mechanized welding with flux-cored wire in inert gases and mixtures. MPIN (137) — Mechanized surfacing with flux-cored wire in inert gases and mixtures. MPS (114) — Mechanized welding with self-shielding flux-cored wire. MPSN (114) — Mechanized surfacing with self-shielding flux-cored wire. MLSN (114) — Mechanized surfacing with self-protecting flux-cored tape. MSOD (113) — Mechanized open arc welding with alloy wire. MF (121) — Mechanized submerged arc welding. MDS (781) — Mechanized arc welding of studs (rods). MKS (782) — Mechanized contact welding of studs (rods). AF (12) - Automatic submerged arc welding 2. AFPN (12) — Automatic surfacing with submerged arc wire electrode. AFLN (12) — Automatic surfacing with a submerged strip electrode. AFDS (782) - Automatic submerged arc welding of studs (rods). AAD (141) - Automatic argon arc welding with non-consumable electrode. AADN (141) — Automatic argon arc surfacing with a non-consumable electrode. AADP (131) — Automatic argon arc welding with a consumable electrode. AADPN (131) — Automatic argon arc surfacing with a consumable electrode. APG (135) - Automatic welding with consumable electrode in active gases and mixtures. APGN (135) - Automatic surfacing with a consumable electrode in active gases and mixtures. APPG (136) - Automatic welding with flux-cored wire in active gases and mixtures. APPGN (136) — Automatic surfacing with flux-cored wire in active gases and mixtures. API (137) - Automatic welding with flux-cored wire in inert gases and mixtures. APIN (137) — Automatic surfacing with flux-cored wire in inert gases and mixtures. APS (114) - Automatic welding with self-shielding flux-cored wire. APSN (114) — Automatic surfacing with self-shielding flux-cored wire. ALSN (114) — Automatic surfacing with self-protecting powder strip. P (15) — Plasma welding. PPN (15) - Plasma surfacing with solid wire. PNP (15) - Plasma powder surfacing. ESH (72) – Electroslag welding. EL (76) — Electron beam welding. G (3) - Gas welding. GN (3) - Gas surfacing. KTS (21) - Contact spot welding. KSS (25) - Resistance butt welding. KSO (24) - Flash butt welding. VChS (291) - High frequency welding. IN - Surfacing with induction heating. T (71) - Thermite welding. K (43) - Forge welding. PAK (91) - Soldering. L (52) — Laser welding. For polymer materials
NI - Welding with a heated tool.
ZN - Welding with embedded heaters. NG - Welding with heated gas. E - Extrusion welding. Note. The process designation according to ISO 4063 is indicated in brackets.

What is needed to obtain a qualification certificate?

The enterprise or directly the person who needs to obtain a certificate submits the following documents:

application for NAKS certification - it indicates specific types of work, types of equipment used;
diploma confirming education;
a copy of the work book;
2 photos.

After registering the application at the appointed time at the certification point, a practical task is issued. Representatives of Rostechnadzor must be present on the commission during the tests.

Many people wonder how to pass the NAKS and are worried about it. But if you have the appropriate skills and knowledge, there is no need to worry - the task corresponds to the types of welding work that were specified in the application. All you need is to perform high-quality welding and pass a theoretical exam.

The validity period of the received welder’s certificate is 2 years, that of a foreman and process engineer is 3 years, and that of a chief welder is 5 years. After this time, recertification is required. Certification can also be additional – if it is necessary to obtain permission for other types of work. There is also an unscheduled certification, which is assigned at the request of an authorized person for non-compliance with welding technology or low quality of welded joints.

Read also: What is the difference between an edge router and a regular one?

Are you interested in training NAKS welders in Moscow or the region? Then, for sure, you want to improve your qualifications or get a rank. And it is right.

In addition to the fact that the work of a welder is in great demand nowadays, it is also risky. This is a harmful effect on the eyes of the welding arc; gas fumes affect light and, on top of that, difficult working conditions in difficult places. However, where have you seen necessary, important and necessary work without risk?

But since the work is still responsible, this profession is regulated by documents and charters. There is also its own certification committee for welding production - the National Welding Agency (NAKS), where welders can be trained.

After all, to become a welder, in addition to desire, you need to know the places where they provide welder education. These could be vocational schools, lyceums or colleges. But there may be various courses and training centers that train NAKS welders.

At these training courses, pre-certification training of welders (NAKS) of the 1st level is carried out with further certification of future masters.

Required data and details of obtaining

In order for the authenticity of the ID to be confirmed by the commission, it must be purchased from a trusted company. You can order a document by leaving a request, having previously read the list of data that needs to be submitted. The NAKS certificate is produced in accordance with established standards and is a rectangular booklet containing the following information:

There are several reasons to issue a document in Moscow, because the original is sometimes lost or damaged. Lack of time for training and lack of real evidence of experience pushes a person to turn to intermediaries for help. Therefore, many welders are wondering how to get a certificate without interrupting their work.

When deciding to purchase a document, it is important to provide personal information and qualifications, because this parameter is taken into account when applying for a job. The NAKS certificate reassures the employer that the order will be completed efficiently, quickly, according to the specified category.

What does it represent?

Every welder should know how to decipher the abbreviation NAKS. This is the National Welding Control Agency , which deals with the welding certification system. First of all, this applies to enterprises whose activities are controlled by Rostechnadzor. In addition to NAKS certification of welders, the committee checks joining technologies and materials used.

NAKS - the decoding of the abbreviation is clear. In addition to the above functions, her area of responsibility includes:

Develop and approve methodological guidelines in accordance with the latest scientific achievements.
Provide consulting support regarding the best ways to perform work.
Controls the activities of certification centers and provides them with information and logistical support.
When conducting inspections of organizations and individual specialists, the composition of the certification commission is approved.
Accounting for existing registers, which include information about persons who have undergone certification for various types of activities, as well as the final results.