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.
The occupation requires production of welds in plate and structural components covering three plate welding positions which must include Vertical (either upward or downward progression) and Overhead, and the three main joint configurations (Single or Double Sided Butt, Single or Double Sided T-Butt & Fillet). Each welding process requiring significantly different welding equipment, assemblies, controls, skills and techniques, and represents an individual production process. Each material type requires specific controls and techniques to achieve a satisfactory weld.