D1.1 visual inspection acceptance criteria, explained

Where visual acceptance sits in D1.1:2025

Visual inspection applies to every weld. Other NDT applies only where the contract calls for it. That makes the visual acceptance criteria the table you'll use most, on the job and on the exam.

Inspection and acceptance is at least 25% of Part C, so this one table is worth knowing cold. Table numbers have moved between editions, so read the number from the list of tables in your own 2025 copy and tab it. Don't trust a number from an older prep book.

What each criterion covers

The table is organised by discontinuity category, one row each. Here's what each row is about and why the code cares, in our words. The limits themselves live in your copy of Clause 8, Part C.

• Cracks. The code treats a crack as a category of its own. A crack is a sharp-ended separation that can keep growing under load, so this row is about whether cracks are tolerated at all, not how big they are.
• Fusion. This row covers bonding of the weld metal to the base metal and between passes. Lack of fusion is a planar flaw that behaves much like a crack, which is why it gets its own row.
• Crater fill. This row covers how the weld ends. An unfilled crater is thin and a common starting point for crater cracks, so the code speaks to how completely it must be filled.
• Weld profiles. This row sends you to the profile rules in Clause 7. Excess convexity, overlap and missing reinforcement all create notches or lost section, and the row ties the finished shape of fillet and groove welds to those rules.
• Undersized welds. This row compares the weld you measure with the size the drawing specifies, over its length. Read the row together with its notes, because where the weld sits can matter.
• Undercut. A groove melted into the base metal at the toe and left unfilled. It removes section and creates a notch, so the code controls it, and the row's conditions depend on how the connection is loaded.
• Porosity. Gas pockets that break the surface or run along the weld. The row separates the kinds of porosity it addresses, and its conditions depend on connection type.
• Arc strikes. Stray arcs on base metal outside the weld can leave hard, cracked spots. Read the criteria for where your copy addresses them rather than assuming they sit in one row.

The table also covers when the final visual inspection may take place, which depends on the steel grade because delayed hydrogen cracking can show up after welding. Look up which steels and what timing in your copy.

To get faster at naming what you see before you look it up, run the weld discontinuities quiz: 15 original drawings, each with the tell that separates it from its look-alike. Weld discontinuities explained covers why each one forms, and the weld discontinuities guide has a page and drawing for each of 20 types, from undercut to arc strikes.

Why the table has more than one column

The code sets separate criteria by connection type: statically loaded nontubular, cyclically loaded nontubular and tubular. The contract documents say which applies, so that single fact decides which column you read. A crane runway girder and a building column can show the same flaw and still be judged against different columns.

Read the column that matches your connection in your own licensed copy, and say the column name out loud before you read any row. If a question mentions fatigue, repeated loading, cranes or bridges, think about which column that points to. Tubular connections have their own column, and Clause 10 can add to it.

How to find the governing row fast

With word search off, the route is your speed. Use the same five steps every time.

1. Classify the question. Is it acceptance of a weld you've already inspected? Then start in Clause 8. A repair question goes to Clause 7, a stud to Clause 9.
2. Settle the connection type. Tubular or nontubular? Statically or cyclically loaded? Check the member and any stress-direction wording in the question.
3. Jump to Clause 8, Part C by clause number from the contents or bookmarks, then open the visual acceptance table near the start of Part C.
4. Pick the column, then the row. Choose the connection-type column first, then go to the discontinuity row and check that your column is marked for it.
5. Read the notes and any cross-reference (thickness, accumulated length, profile rules in Clause 7) before you compare your measurement.

Most wrong answers come from step 4: reading the wrong column for the joint in front of you. Name the column first, then the row.

Mistakes that cost points

• Answering from memory. The table is open in front of you, so read it every time.
• Wrong column. The connection-type columns sit side by side, and one column over is a different answer.
• Skipping the notes. Conditions in the notes can change the answer.
• Looking for an MT or PT table. Welds examined by MT or PT go back to the visual criteria.
• Judging studs with this table. Studs go to Clause 9.
• Trusting an older table number. Check the number in your own 2025 copy.

Practise the route, then test it

Build the clause map first with the CWI Part C lookup drills, then time yourself in the D1.1 navigation drill. The Part C navigation workflow shows how to log each miss so you know whether the start, the search or the final read cost you the time. For format and exam-day details, see the Part C exam guide, and the D1.1 edition guide for which book to study.

See how fast you find the right row

Take the free 10-question check for Part C. It's scored by domain, takes no signup and shows whether inspection and acceptance is where you're losing points. When you're ready for the full prep, the Part C course gives you code-navigation drills for finding the right D1.1 clause, table or figure fast, a lesson for every exam subject including visual acceptance, two full-length timed practice exams and a worked explanation with every answer that cites the clause.

Sources

Show the list

Study basis: Fillet Gauge's Part C course modules on code organization, visual inspection acceptance and NDT acceptance, and the public D1.1 navigation lesson, all on D1.1:2025.

• AWS D1.1 endorsement description, AWS's page on the Part C format and reference arrangements.
• D1.1/D1.1M:2025-AMD1 store listing, AWS, for your own licensed copy.

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