Independent CSA W178.2 Level 2 visual welding inspection for fabricators, owners and EPC contractors across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Taguchi Inspection Services provides CWB Level 2 visual welding inspection to fabricators, owners and EPC contractors across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Level 2 under CSA W178.2 is the level that can inspect independently, interpret the code, accept or reject a weld, and sign the report that goes into your turnover package.
We work as a genuinely third-party inspector. We report to you, not to the fabricator and not to the contractor, and we write findings the way an auditor would want to read them.
Review of WPS, PQR and welder qualification records against the applicable code. Confirming the welder on the floor is the welder on the ticket, and that the procedure they are following is the one that was qualified.
Material traceability and MTR review, consumable storage and control, joint preparation, root gap, alignment, preheat verification and interpass temperature checks.
In-process monitoring against the WPS: parameters, technique, cleaning between passes, and the conditions the procedure actually requires rather than the ones that are convenient.
Final visual examination to CSA W59 or the governing code — profile, undercut, porosity, cracking, arc strikes, weld size and length, and completeness against the drawing.
Specifying, witnessing and reviewing RT, UT, MT and PT results, including film and report review, and tracking repair welds through re-examination.
Daily inspection reports, non-conformance reports with clear disposition tracking, weld maps, ITP sign-off at hold and witness points, and a turnover dossier that survives an audit.
| Standard | Applies to |
|---|---|
| CSA W59 | Welded steel construction — the acceptance criteria most Canadian structural welds are judged against. |
| CSA W47.1 | Certification of companies for fusion welding of steel — verifying your fabricator holds and is working within their division. |
| CSA W178.2 | Certification of welding inspectors — the standard our Level 2 qualification is issued under. |
| CSA W186 | Welding of reinforcing bars in reinforced concrete construction. |
| ASME B31.3 / Section IX | Process piping and welding procedure and performance qualification. |
| AWS D1.1 | Structural welding on projects specified to the American code. |
Shop and field inspection across the Lower Mainland — Delta, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Richmond and Vancouver — from our Delta office, and across the Edmonton and Alberta industrial heartland from our Edmonton office. Ontario and remote-site work is covered on a mobilisation basis.
Short-notice turnaround and shutdown coverage is what we do most: call with a start date and a scope and you will get availability and a rate the same day.
A CWB Level 2 welding inspector is certified by the Canadian Welding Bureau to CSA Standard W178.2 at Level 2. Level 2 is the working inspector grade: the certificate holder plans and carries out visual welding inspection independently, interprets drawings and welding procedure specifications, verifies welder and procedure qualifications, judges weld acceptability against CSA W59 and related codes, and signs inspection records. Level 1 works under supervision; Level 3 supervises inspection programs and writes procedures.
QC inspector is a job title; CWB Level 2 is a certification. On Canadian fabrication and construction projects the two usually overlap: the welding QC inspector role is filled by someone holding CSA W178.2 Level 2, because that is the credential a client, engineer or authority having jurisdiction will accept for weld acceptance decisions. A QC inspector without W178.2 certification can monitor and record, but their weld acceptance sign-off may not be recognised.
Typically when welding is performed to CSA W59 under a CSA W47.1 certified fabricator, when a structural engineer specifies independent third-party weld inspection, when an owner requires witness or hold points on structural or pressure welding, or when a jurisdiction such as Technical Safety BC or ABSA requires documented weld inspection as part of a quality program. Many project specifications name CSA W178.2 Level 2 explicitly.
Yes. Taguchi maintains inspectors based in Metro Vancouver and Edmonton and mobilises across Canada. Send us the scope, code, location and dates and we will confirm availability and rates.
Yes. Taguchi supplies inspection manpower to contractors and fabricators who hold their own Technical Safety BC or ABSA accepted quality programs. Our inspectors work to your approved procedures, forms and reporting requirements rather than imposing ours.
CSA W59 and CSA W47.1 for structural steel welding, CSA W178.2 for inspector qualification, ASME B31.1, B31.3 and B31.9 for power, process and building services piping, ASME Section VIII and CSA B51 for pressure equipment, and CSA B149.1 and B149.2 for gas installations. API 510, 570 and 653 inspection is available through the same team.
Send the scope and the dates. You will get a straight answer the same day.
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