1.1 AWS D1.1 Endorsement Exam Format & Open-Book Navigation

AWS D1.1 Endorsement Exam Format & Open-Book Navigation

The AWS D1.1 Structural Steel Endorsement Examination is a supplemental credential offered by the American Welding Society under AWS QC1:2016-AMD1, Specification for AWS Certification of Welding Inspectors. It validates an inspector's ability to interpret, navigate, and enforce the mandatory requirements of AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2025, Structural Welding Code — Steel.

Earning the endorsement serves several purposes at once. For an existing CWI or SCWI, passing it during the immediate 9-year period satisfies the examination requirement for recertification under QC1 Clauses 16.2.1 or 16.3.1, so you do not have to re-sit the full three-part CWI exam. For a candidate pursuing initial certification, the same examination may be taken as the Part C codebook exam, satisfying Clause 6.2.1 of AWS B5.1:2025. Once earned, the endorsement never expires on its own — it renews automatically each time the underlying CWI certification is renewed or recertified.

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Examination Logistics & Testing Environment

The examination is a computer-based test (CBT) delivered at a Prometric test center. It is an open-book, timed test of code navigation speed and precise application, not a memory test.

Code edition, 2026 onward. AWS allowed either the 2020 or the 2025 edition of D1.1 for exams taken between August 1 and December 31, 2025. After December 31, 2025, candidates must study and use the 2025 edition. This matters more than it sounds: the 2020 and 2025 editions renumbered several heavily used tables. Approved base metals moved from Table 5.3 to Table 5.6, matching filler metals from Table 5.4 to Table 5.7, prequalified preheat from Table 5.8 to Table 5.11, welder position qualification from Table 6.10 to Table 6.11, and welder thickness/diameter ranges from Table 6.11 to Table 6.12. Study material written to the 2020 numbering will send you to the wrong page.

The Prometric Interface & Electronic Navigation

Candidates work with the exam question alongside an electronic PDF viewer containing the official code. Key features and pitfalls:

1. The word-search function is disabled. Prometric disables full-text search on the codebook PDF for psychometric reasons. You cannot type "undercut" and jump to it. Navigation has to run through the table of contents, the list of tables, the list of figures, the index, and PDF bookmarks.
2. Bookmarks and the Table of Contents are the primary tools. The electronic document carries clickable bookmarks for the 11 numbered clauses and the annexes. Practice reaching a named table from the List of Tables in two clicks.
3. Dual units. D1.1/D1.1M:2025 is published in combined U.S. Customary and SI units: U.S. Customary first, SI in brackets, e.g. 1/8 in. [3 mm]. Questions may be framed in either system.
4. Bring a tabbed printed copy. Because search is disabled, a physically tabbed bound codebook is often faster than the on-screen PDF. It must be permanently bound; loose sheets and unbound notes are not permitted, and no reference other than D1.1 is allowed.

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The Official Test Specification

AWS publishes the endorsement blueprint as five content areas with a minimum percentage of questions each, in conformance with the Code Applications examination requirements of Clause 8 of AWS B5.1:2025, Specification for the Qualification of Welding Inspectors. These are minimums, not exact shares, so roughly 15% of the exam floats above the stated floors.

Read that table carefully before you plan your study time. The design clause that dominates most welding-engineering coursework — Clause 4 — sits inside a 5% minimum content area. Three quarters of the guaranteed questions live in Qualification, Fabrication, and Inspection. If you spend your preparation on fatigue categories and effective throat trigonometry while skimming Clause 6 essential variables, Clause 7 workmanship, and Table 8.1, you are studying against the published blueprint.

How This Guide Maps to the Blueprint

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The Three-Pass Open-Book Strategy

Spending 8 to 10 minutes resolving a single ambiguous question guarantees failure through unfinished items. Use a three-pass execution strategy across the 135-minute English answering window:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                     THREE-PASS EXECUTION TIMELINE (135 MINUTES)                     |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PASS 1: Minutes 0 - 50    --> Direct knowledge & single-table lookups (20-25 items)  |
| PASS 2: Minutes 50 - 105  --> Multi-variable tables & cross-references (15-20 items) |
| PASS 3: Minutes 105 - 135 --> Calculations, edge cases, footnotes, verification      |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Pass 1: Rapid Resolution (< 45 Seconds per Question)

Answer immediately if the question tests fundamental code knowledge or a single table lookup (for example, Table 7.7 minimum fillet size for a known plate thickness). If the item requires multi-step calculation or a clause-to-clause comparison, flag it and move on.

Pass 2: Complex Navigation (1.5 to 3.0 Minutes per Question)

Return to flagged questions involving multi-variable tables, such as:

• PQR essential variable changes in Table 6.6 (for example, a change in shielding gas composition or an increase in heat input).
• Welder qualification thickness ranges in Table 6.12 and position ranges in Table 6.11.
• UT indication evaluation using the decibel rating tables (Table 8.2 for static, Table 8.3 for cyclic tension).
• Joint detail drawings in Figure 5.1 (CJP) or Figure 5.2 (PJP) to verify root face, root opening, or groove angle tolerances.

Pass 3: Hard Calculations & Footnote Verification (Remaining Time)

Address the most complex remaining problems, such as:

• Skewed T-joint effective throat and Z-loss (Clause 4.5, Table 4.2, and Annex A).
• Fatigue stress range calculations from Table 4.5 and Figure 4.16 (Clause 4 Part C).
• Multi-tiered table footnotes (for example, footnotes in Table 5.6 or Table 8.1 that override general clause rules).
• Confirm every flagged question has a recorded answer before the 135-minute timer expires.

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Critical Code Navigation Principles

1. The Power of Table Footnotes

In AWS D1.1, the general text establishes broad rules, but table footnotes contain the exceptions, limitations, and special conditions. Exam writers frequently test whether candidates read footnotes.

Exam Rule: Whenever a question references a table (Table 5.6, Table 5.7, Table 5.11, Table 6.6, Table 6.12, Table 7.7, or Table 8.1), read every footnote attached to that table before selecting your answer.

2. Table and Figure Numbering Architecture

Tables and figures are numbered by the clause that owns them, and the owning clause is not always the clause you expect:

• Design tables live in Clause 4: Table 4.2 (Z loss), Table 4.3 (available strength of welded joints), Table 4.5 (fatigue stress design parameters).
• Prequalification tables live in Clause 5: Table 5.6 (approved base metals), Table 5.7 (matching filler metals), Table 5.10 (prequalified shielding gas options), Table 5.11 (prequalified preheat and interpass).
• Qualification tables live in Clause 6: Table 6.1/Table 6.2 (WPS positions and specimens), Table 6.6 (PQR essential variables), Table 6.11/Table 6.12/Table 6.13/Table 6.14 (welder positions, ranges, essential variables, electrode groups).
• Minimum fillet weld sizes are Table 7.7, in the Fabrication clause — not in Clause 4 or 5. This single lookup catches more candidates than any other.
• Inspection tables live in Clause 8: Table 8.1 (visual acceptance), Table 8.2/Table 8.3 (UT acceptance), Table 8.4–Table 8.6 (IQI requirements), Table 8.7 (testing angle).
• Tubular tables live in Clause 10, and several duplicate a Clause 4/6/8 concept with different numbers: Table 10.5 (tubular Z loss), Table 10.8 (tubular positions qualified), Table 10.14 (tubular visual acceptance).

If a question asks about welder performance qualification test positions, it resides in Clause 6 (Figures 6.3 and 6.4 for test-plate positions, Table 6.11 for what those positions qualify).

3. Know the Annexes

D1.1/D1.1M:2025 carries eight normative annexes (A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I) and eleven informative annexes (J through T), plus a Commentary. Normative annexes are mandatory; informative ones are not. The ones worth tabbing:

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Worked Navigation Example

Problem Statement

A fabricator is using Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) with AWS A5.1 E7018 electrodes on a structural building project. The electrodes are removed from a freshly opened hermetically sealed container and exposed to ambient atmospheric conditions for 6 hours. According to AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2025, what action is required before these electrodes may be used for welding?

Systematic Navigation Walkthrough

1. Identify the governing clause. Electrode storage, exposure limits, and redrying are fabrication requirements governed by Clause 7 (Fabrication) — specifically Clause 7.3, Welding Consumables and Electrode Requirements. A common trap is to look in Clause 5, where preheat and filler metal selection live; issuing and exposure rules are Clause 7.
2. Go to the right subclause. Within Clause 7.3, SMAW electrode requirements are in 7.3.1. Note that Clause 7.14 is Preparation of Base Metal, not consumables — the numbers are close enough to cost you a minute if you guess.
3. Consult Table 7.1, Allowable Atmospheric Exposure of Low-Hydrogen Electrodes.
4. Read the electrode row. For A5.1 E70XX electrodes without a moisture-resistant designator, the maximum permissible atmospheric exposure is 4 hours.
5. Apply the redrying rule. 6 hours exceeds 4 hours, so the electrodes must be redried before use. A5.1 electrodes are redried at 500°F to 800°F [260°C to 430°C] for at least 2 hours, and Clause 7.3.1 permits redrying only once.
6. Conclusion. The electrodes cannot be used as-is; they must be redried on the mandatory schedule, and if they had been wetted with water they would have to be discarded outright.