AS/NZS 3545:2020

ISO 6947:2019
AS/NZS 3545:2020

Australian/New Zealand Standard™

Welding and allied processes —

Welding positions
AS/NZS 3545:2020

This Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard™ was prepared by Joint Technical

Committee WD-003, Welding Of Structures. It was approved on behalf of the Council of
Standards Australia on 24 April 2020 and by the New Zealand Standards Approval Board
on 6 May 2020.
This Standard was published on 15 May 2020.

The following are represented on Committee WD-003:

Australasian Corrosion Association
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Australian Industry Group
Australian Steel Institute
Australian Welding Institute
Austroads
Bureau of Steel Manufacturers of Australia
Energy Networks Australia
New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association
New Zealand Non-Destructive Testing Association
Steel Reinforcement Institute of Australia
TAFE NSW
University of Sydney
Weld Australia

This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR AS/NZS 3545:2020.

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ISBN 978 1 76072 843 4

 AS/NZS 3545:2020
ISO 6947:2019

Australian/New Zealand Standard™

Welding and allied processes —

Welding positions

Originated in Australia as AS 3545—2004.

Jointly revised and redesignated as AS/NZS 3545:2020.

COPYRIGHT
© ISO 2020 — All rights reserved
© Standards Australia Limited/the Crown in right of New Zealand, administered by the New
Zealand Standards Executive 2020
All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without the written
permission of the publisher, unless otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)
or the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand).
AS/NZS 3545:2020 ii

Preface
This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee WD-
003, Welding of Structures, to supersede AS 3545—2004, Welding positions.

This Standard is identical with, and has been reproduced from, ISO 6947:2019, Welding and allied
processes — Welding positions.
As this document has been reproduced from an International Standard, a full point substitutes for a
comma when referring to a decimal marker.
Australian or Australian/New Zealand Standards that are identical adoptions of international
normative references may be used interchangeably. Refer to the online catalogue for information on

appendices or annexes to which they apply. A “normative” appendix or annex is an integral part of a
Standard, whereas an “informative” appendix or annex is only for information and guidance.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 iii AS/NZS 3545:2020

Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ii
Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ iv
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
............................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
........................................................................................................................................................................ 2
.......................................................................................... 5
..................................................................................................................... 5
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
(informative)
.................................... 8
(informative)
.....................................................................................................................................................................15
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19
AS/NZS 3545:2020 iv

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
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ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
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expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
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.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 44, Welding and allied processes,
Subcommittee SC 7, Representation and terms.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO 6947:2011), which has been technically
revised. The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
— Figure 1 and Figure 2 have been revised;

— editorial corrections/improvements have been made.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html
of TC 44 documents, where they exist, are available from this page: https://committee.iso.org/sites/
tc44/home/interpretation.html.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 v AS/NZS 3545:2020

Introduction

have been included in this document since the third edition (ISO 6947:2011).

are contiguous.

The main positions have been given symbols which can easily be used for designation purposes; these
symbols were not derived from any particular language.

included so that testing can be carried out in positions that do not meet the standard requirements.

e.g. in the ISO 9606 series or ISO 15614 series.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

NOTES
 1 AS/NZS 3545:2020

Australian/New Zealand Standard

Welding and allied processes — Welding positions

product forms.
Annex A gives examples of the limits of the slope of a weld axis and the rotation of the weld face about
the weld axis for welding positions in production welds.
Annex B

There are no normative references in this document.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
3.1

the horizontal plane

3.2

welding position (3.1

Note 1 to entry: See Figure 1 and Figure 2 for welding position designations.

3.3

any welding position (3.1) that is not covered by one of the main welding positions (3.2) (see 4.3)
3.4

S
<welding positions> angle of the axis of the weld relative to the main welding position (3.2)
3.5
rotation
R
<welding positions> angle of the face of the weld relative to the main welding position (3.2)
3.6

L
<welding positions> angle of the axis of the pipe

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 2

The main welding positions PA to PG are illustrated in Figure 1.

A
PB horizontal vertical position
PC horizontal position
PD horizontal overhead position
PE overhead position
PF vertical position (welding upwards)
PG vertical position (welding downwards)

(upwards) and PG (downwards) represent the direction of welding.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

3 AS/NZS 3545:2020

Figure 2.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 4

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 5 AS/NZS 3545:2020

a The arrow indicates the face of the weld and thus the welding position.
b The arrow indicates the direction of welding along the joint.
c The arrow indicates the rotation of the workpieces when welding a pipe in a positioner.

Welding positions used during welding of a test piece shall not exceed ±5° in slope and ±10° in rotation
from the main welding position.

welders and welding procedures are given in Table 1 for butt welds and in Table 2
also examples in Annex A
application standard could limit PA to 15° of face rotation rather than 30°.

PA and “minus” means revolving the weld surface towards the main welding position PE.

When a test piece is welded using a position outside of the limits (see 3.3) of the main welding positions,
the slope and rotation shall be recorded in accordance with Clause 5. The allowable range in production
shall be ±15° in slope and in rotation.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 6

Rotation
S R
Flat PA ±15° ±30°
PC +60°
±15°
–10°
Overhead PE ±80° ±80°
+10° to +75° ±100°
Vertical PF, PG
±10° ±180°

Rotation
S R
Flat PA ±15° ±30°
+15°
PB ±15°
–10°
+35°
PC ±15°
–10°
+35°
PD ±80°
–10°
Overhead PE ±80° ±35°
+10° to +75° ±100°
Vertical PF, PG
±10° ±180°

Figure 1
and Figure 2

When a test piece is welded in a position outside of the limits of the main welding positions, the allowable
range in production is ±15° in slope and in rotation. These supplementary values are mandatory when
4.2.
For circumferential welds in pipes with inclined axes, the indication of slope and rotation shall be
Figure 2

PB

Table 2.

PB 015-010

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 7 AS/NZS 3545:2020

and an inclined angle of 45°, is:

progression. The application standard can specify a different range.

(PJ) and an inclined angle of 45°, is:

PJ-L045

downward progression. The application standard may specify a different range.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 8

(informative)

This annex describes, through a series of sketches, the limits of the slope of a weld axis and the rotation
of the weld face about the weld axis for welding positions in production welds (see Table 1 and Table 2).
Figures A.1 to A.4 show sketches for butt welds and Figures A.5 and A.6
Figure A.1 a) for horizontal plane and vertical plane applies to all
Annex A.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 9 AS/NZS 3545:2020

1 horizontal plane
2 vertical plane

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 10

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

11 AS/NZS 3545:2020

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 12

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

13 AS/NZS 3545:2020

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 14

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 15 AS/NZS 3545:2020

(informative)

Table B.1 [3][4].

1G PA

2G PC

horizontal position horizontal position

3G uphill PF

vertical up position

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 16

(continued)

3G downhill PG

vertical down position

4G PE

overhead position

5G uphill

5G downhill PJ

6G uphill a

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 17 AS/NZS 3545:2020

(continued)

6G downhill PJ-L045 a

1F PA

1FR PA

2F PB

horizontal vertical position

2FR PB

horizontal vertical position (pipe rotated)

3F uphill PF

vertical up position

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

AS/NZS 3545:2020 18

(continued)

3F downhill PG

vertical down position

4F PD

horizontal overhead position

5F uphill

5F downhill PJ

a The inclined angle is an example only.

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

 19 AS/NZS 3545:2020

[1] ISO 9606 (all parts),

[2] ISO 15614 (all parts),
Welding procedure test

© Standards Australia Limited/Standards New Zealand 2020

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