Offshore welding inspection: IWI or CSWIP ?

[kingnero]

Looking to expand my welding engineering consultancy office to offshore and oil&gas work.
Up to this moment, I have absolutely squat connections to the offshore world (apart from having seen Waterworld three of four times).
FYI, my firm (two welding engineers and one administrative employee) have extensive experience in construction and mechanical welding applications, calc en design, and maintenance and repair, but currently we're looking to expand in both our field of study and personnel.

I am looking to follow (myself) a course, just to know the basics and to get in touch with people inside that sector.
We'll see after this how it evolves.

There are two main choices:

IWI (international Welding Inspector), that falls under EWF, whereas
CSWIP falls under TWI.

I hear that IWI is hardly ever asked, where CSWIP is the standard. Is this correct?
Any other useful tips that might come in handy if I were to pursue this?

Our region is Europe, but offshore and oil&gas regulations apparently are independent of the actual location of the work. Which is understandable.

thanks in advance,

 

[kingnero]

Anybody?

Perhaps I should post this in another forum (which one?), where people might have more experience in this field?

 

[andriver]

This is a poor area for this. I would recommend posting this either in:

Welding Link or

Offshore Link

 

[Sengland]

I can comment but it's based on Australia. I've just completed my CSWIP 3.1 to get a welding inspector qualification. We have a local system here that seems to be more highly regarded by locals but CSWIP is an international one so commonly asked for. It is also a quicker course as far as I understand. I thought the content in the CSWIP course was pretty good. In the end a good inspector is far more than a qualification, I've come across rubbish inspectors with bucket loads of certificates. I'd suggest go for the one you hear asked for more often and be prepared for people to assess you on your CV as well as your qualification.