AWS D1.6: Structural Welding Code: Stainless Steel

AWS D1.6, Structural Welding Code: Stainless Steel, covers the requirements for welding stainless steel structural assemblies. 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. AWS's bookstore lists the current edition, D1.6/D1.6M:2017 with Amendment 1, at $261 for members and $348 for non-members (pubs.aws.org, as of 2026-10-21).

Referenced for structural fabrication where corrosion resistance requires stainless steel rather than carbon steel.

• Issuer American Welding Society (AWS)
• Scope The stainless-steel counterpart to D1.1, addressing the different metallurgy and qualification requirements of stainless structural welding.
• Who needs it A welder qualified on stainless steel structural work, where corrosion resistance rules out carbon 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 $261 member / $348 non-member for the D1.6/D1.6M:2017 AMD1 edition (pubs.aws.org, as of 2026-10-21); AWS marks the older 2007 edition historical.
• Renewal / recertification Not applicable.
• Where employers ask for it Named in stainless structural fabrication postings: food-processing, chemical, and marine environments commonly reference it.