Not mere certificates of attendance ours, but officially recognized Patentinos.
What is the difference between CERTIFICATE and PATENT?
There are so many training courses for welders in Italy and so much confusion often arises when looking for good and clear information on welding courses, licenses and certificates.
Unfortunately, many aspiring welders do not know the difference between Certificates, Certifications, and Welding Patents and do not pay close attention to the offerings of the various Welding Schools.
That is why we have prepared a Vademecum for future aspiring welders.
Let's start with the most important thing, an aspiring welder must aspire to certify with an important valid and internationally recognized Welding License according to UNI EN ISO 9606standard.
The various CERTIFICATES of participation, attendance, competence have no value recognized by companies and European states.
Unfortunately, most of the Metalworking and Welding Schools in Italy, do not issue Certificates, but simple certificates.
For metal-mechanical companies throughout Europe, since 2014 it has been mandatory to have qualified and certified welders with UNI EN ISO 9606 Welding licenses, this is precisely because it is only fair that companies during metal-mechanical work use only specialized and trained personnel for the processing of products that then come into contact with people.
Then again, these are rules that apply to just about every field-a doctor needs a medical degree, an engineer needs an engineering degree, etc.
For aspiring welders looking for a welding course, it is important to demand from the school that a welding license be issued at the end of the training, because the license is the first thing that is required by companies to hire a welder, especially if a junior welder is on his or her first experience.
Yes, that's right, companies that need to evaluate a new "Junior" welder cannot evaluate him from his resume, because he will have no welding experience to show for it, so the first thing they ask is whether he has a Welding License.
Why do companies or employment agencies ask the candidate if he/she has a Welding License?
Because the Patent shows and certifies that, at least once in a lifetime, the candidate has demonstrated during an examination and in front of a recognized inspector that he or she can weld well and without defect, that the welded piece has been checked externally visually and internally with fracture or radiographic test, etc.
For these very reasons, it is important to demand from a Welding School a suitable preparation to pass and receive a Welding License and not a useless Certificate of Participation.
The License is not issued by the Welding School, the Welding School conducts the course and prepares you for the exam, it will then be an accredited Certification Body Accredia to issue the license through the School upon successful completion of the examination.
You always have to ask the Schools if the price of the course includes exam and license or only certificate of attendance.
You also have to be careful of Schools that tell you that they make you take the exam for the license after the course, but because they don't have a structured and adequate course, you can't pass it... and in the end you only get a certificate of participation.
So it is essential to find a Welding School that takes responsibility, willing to take a gamble that with its training program you will be able to pass the exam.
What happens if you don't pass the exam?
A good Welding School that knows it has designed a course to pass the exam will take its responsibility and make you retake the exam for free until you pass, but there are very few Schools that do this in Italy.
Fortunately, to pass the Welding License exam, there are no recommendations; in front of an Inspector from a Certification Body outside the School, you have to take a real practical welding test.
It may happen that the trainee on the exam is agitated and fails the test, but if he or she is well prepared after a good welding course, on the second chance, he or she will almost certainly pass.
Another very important thing for a trainee to ask and evaluate is to know whatCertification Body the School offers you for the issuance of the License.
It is essential that the body be accredited by ACCREDIA, but it is also important that it is a well-known Body known by companies in the engineering industry.
The most famous and well-known Welder Certification Bodies in Italy are:
- Italian Institute of Welding IIS
- RINA Spa (not to be confused with similar names)
- Bureau Veritas
- TUV
So we feel that we recommend only Schools that guarantee you will attain a welding license with one of these Certification Bodies, not because there are not other accredited ones, but for the simple fact that since they are the most well-known, when you present yourself to metalworking companies, they immediately recognize the value of the certification.
Are all Welding Patents the same?
No, the more difficult the exam test the welder takes, the more important the license is, in fact the exam test you took and passed is written in the license.
To simplify, if you take a simple exam, we could call it a basic beginner's license; if you take a complex exam, then it will be an important and comprehensive license; for example, a respectable license is on "piping in place position 6G with radiographic welding."
To sum up, in order not to go to waste of time, when you ask for information we recommend:
- Ask whether Welding Schools guarantee the issuance of a Welder's License
- Whether the issuance of the license has an additional cost to the course price
- With which certification body is the license issued
- In what position they release it to you.
ITAFORMA welding school conducts only professional welding courses, designed to go to work, with issuance of the Welding License recognized internationally, according to UNI EN 9606 standards.
Itaforma issues Patents from only the best and most famous Welders Certification Bodies: IIS, RINA, TUV and Bureau Veritas.
In ITAFORMA, if the trainee, for any reason, fails the exam, he/she can retake it for Free as many times as necessary until he/she passes.
