What is CSWIP?

CSWIP is a world leader in personnel competence assurance certification with over 60,000 certified individuals worldwide.

CSWIP provides internationally recognised, role-specific competence for people engaged in welding, joining, materials integrity and inspection in manufacturing, construction, operation or repair of high integrity structures, plant or machinery. CSWIP certification schemes are UKAS-accredited to ISO/IEC 17024, the international standard for personnel certification.

What does CSWIP stand for?

Originally, it stood for ‘Certification Scheme for Welding Inspection Personnel’. However, over the years, a wider range of schemes has been added to the programme, NDT being one of these and therefore ‘Certification Scheme for Personnel’ is now the generic title for the range of schemes.

TWI Training and Examination Services offers a wide range of generic CSWIP NDT courses in all methods, all of which are accredited to BS EN ISO 9712. In addition, and of significance to many of our customers, is the CSWIP ‘Employer Specific Certification,’ which is also accredited to BS EN ISO 9712. The employer specific scheme is driven by the inspection procedure and as such is specific to an NDT application or range of applications, which the operator is then certified to carry out. The training, examination, experience and competencies required are agreed between the customer and ATO/AQB, and in accordance with the minimum requirements of the scheme document.

A company opting for the ‘Employer Specific’ route can be supported through our independent Level 3 services, and is also subject to third party audit, and therefore has the same credibility and integrity as any of the generic BS EN ISO 9712 certifications. The benefit for our customers, is that their investment in training is somewhat protected; as the operator’s certification terminates if they leave that company, and therefore this should improve staff retention.

Find out more about CSWIP