AWS D1.3: Structural Welding Code: Sheet Steel

AWS D1.3, Structural Welding Code: Sheet Steel, covers welding sheet steel with a specified minimum yield strength of 80 ksi (550 MPa) or less, galvanized or not. It is a code, not a personal credential: a welder qualifies to it by passing a weld test made to a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) and judged against the code's acceptance criteria. The current edition is D1.3/D1.3M:2025, listed at $150 for AWS members and $200 for non-members (pubs.aws.org, as of 2026-10-21).

Applies to cold-formed steel framing and other sheet-steel structural assemblies where D1.1's thickness assumptions do not fit.

• Issuer American Welding Society (AWS)
• Scope Covers welding of sheet steel (thinner-gauge material than D1.1 typically addresses) in structural applications.
• Who needs it A welder working cold-formed steel framing or other thin-gauge structural sheet steel.
• Prerequisites A code, not a personal credential, so it has no entry requirements of its own. Same structure as D1.1: a welder qualifies to it by passing a weld test made to a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) and judged against the code's acceptance criteria.
• Test format A weld test made to a WPS and judged against the code's acceptance criteria. Ask the employer or test facility which code and procedure a given test covers.
• Cost $150 member / $200 non-member for the D1.3/D1.3M:2025 edition (pubs.aws.org, as of 2026-10-21).
• Renewal / recertification Not applicable.
• Where employers ask for it Named in cold-formed steel framing and light structural fabrication postings.