✈️ AS9100
AS9100 Rev D Welding & Fabrication for Aerospace Programs
When a weldment is going onto an airframe, an engine mount, or a satellite bracket, the question is no longer whether the shop has a quality system but whether that system carries the aerospace overlay that primes and OEMs actually flow down. AS9100 Rev D is that overlay, and for welding it pulls in first-article rigor, risk management, and configuration control that general fabrication never sees.
AS9100NADCAPISO 9001
The Aerospace Delta on Top of ISO 9001
AS9100 Rev D is ISO 9001:2015 verbatim plus roughly 100 added aerospace requirements maintained by the IAQG. For a weld shop the additions that bite hardest are configuration management (clause 8.1.2), which forces strict control of which drawing revision and which approved process a weldment was built to; key characteristics and critical-items management (clause 8.1.1 and 8.5.1.2), which require special handling of weld features that drive form, fit, or safety; and counterfeit-parts and product-safety clauses (8.1.4, 8.1.3) that reach into filler-metal and base-metal provenance.
AS9100 also adds first-article inspection per AS9102 as a contractual expectation, and tightens production process verification, work transfer control, and the handling of nonconforming material so that a fabricator cannot simply use-as-is a weld defect without OEM concession. Risk-based thinking, generic in ISO 9001, is operationalized: the shop must document how it identifies and mitigates risk on each weld operation that could affect conformity. None of this changes the physics of a GTAW root pass on Inconel 718, but it changes how the shop proves, records, and controls it.
The net effect is that an AS9100 weld supplier maintains far deeper objective evidence than an ISO 9001 shop, and that evidence is auditable years later through the OASIS database that primes use to monitor their supply base.
Where AS9100 Stops and NADCAP Begins
This is the single most misunderstood point in aerospace fabrication sourcing. AS9100 certifies the management system. It does not, by itself, accredit the welding special process. For fusion welding on flight hardware, primes such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, and Airbus almost universally require NADCAP accreditation to AC7110/AC7110-3 for fusion welding, in addition to AS9100. The two are complementary: AS9100 governs the company, NADCAP audits the actual weld process against the industry consensus checklist.
A shop that holds AS9100 but lacks NADCAP welding accreditation can still fabricate ground support equipment, tooling, and non-flight structures, and can subcontract its critical welds to a NADCAP-accredited source under controlled flow-down. But if your part is a flight-critical weldment and you only confirmed AS9100, you have not actually qualified the weld. Always confirm both, and confirm the NADCAP scope matches your process: GTAW, GMAW, electron-beam, laser, or resistance welding are separately scoped under the AC7110 family.
First-Article, Key Characteristics, and the Records You Receive
On a new aerospace weldment or after a significant change, AS9100 expects a full first-article inspection documented on AS9102 Forms 1, 2, and 3. Form 1 captures part-number accountability, Form 2 records the materials, special processes, and functional testing including the weld process and its specification, and Form 3 ties every drawing characteristic to an actual measured result. For welds, Form 2 is where the WPS, the welder/operator qualification, the NADCAP accreditation reference, and any NDT method get pinned to the part.
Beyond the FAI, expect a data package that includes raw and filler material certs traceable to heat and lot, NDT reports with technique sheets and Level II or III sign-off, weld maps identifying each joint, and a certificate of conformity citing the contract and all flowed-down specifications. Key characteristics flagged on the drawing will carry statistical or 100-percent verification evidence. Because configuration control is mandatory, every document references the exact revision in effect, and any concession or material review board disposition is traceable. Insist on the full pedigree package up front in your PO, because retrofitting traceability onto a delivered flight weldment is effectively impossible.
Verifying AS9100 Status Through OASIS
Unlike many quality marks, AS9100 has a central authoritative registry: the IAQG OASIS database. Every legitimate AS9100 certificate is recorded there with the certified site, the certification body, the scope, the certification structure, and the current status. Ask the supplier for their OASIS certificate number and confirm it directly; a supplier reluctant to share it is a warning sign.
When you check, verify three things beyond active status. First, that the scope explicitly covers welding and fabrication at the specific site shipping your parts, since multi-site companies often certify only certain locations. Second, that the certification body is an IAQG-recognized aerospace registrar, not a generic ISO 9001 body, because AS9100 must be issued by aerospace-approved certification bodies under the ICOP scheme. Third, cross-check NADCAP separately in the eAuditNet system for the relevant AC7110 welding scope and confirm it has not lapsed; NADCAP accreditations run on shorter cycles, often annual to biennial, and lapse more often than the AS9100 certificate does.
Frequently Asked Questions
For flight-critical fusion welds you need both. AS9100 Rev D certifies the supplier's quality management system with the aerospace overlay, but it does not accredit the welding special process itself. The major airframe and engine OEMs flow down a requirement for NADCAP accreditation to the AC7110 fusion welding family for welds on flight hardware, layered on top of AS9100. The distinction matters because welding is a special process whose quality cannot be fully verified by inspecting the finished part, so the industry created NADCAP to audit the process directly against a shared checklist. A shop with AS9100 but no NADCAP welding scope can legitimately build non-flight items like tooling, ground support equipment, and fixtures, and can outsource its critical welds to a NADCAP source under controlled flow-down. If your part flies and the weld is structural, confirm the supplier holds AS9100 plus a NADCAP welding scope that matches your exact process, whether GTAW, electron beam, or another method.
AS9102 is the aerospace standard for first-article inspection, the documented verification that a production process actually produces parts meeting every drawing requirement before the supplier runs the lot. It is required on the first production run of a new part, after any change to design, process, source, tooling, or manufacturing location, and after a lapse in production over two years, and primes frequently mandate it contractually. The report uses three forms: Form 1 for part-number accountability, Form 2 for materials, special processes, and functional tests, and Form 3 which maps every drawing characteristic to a measured result with the instrument used. For welding, Form 2 is critical because it captures the weld procedure specification, the welder or operator qualification, the special-process source and its NADCAP reference, and any nondestructive testing performed. A complete, ballooned FAI package is one of the clearest signals that a fabricator genuinely operates at aerospace level rather than just holding the certificate.
Expect a substantial premium, frequently 30 to 100 percent or more over commercial fabrication, and longer lead times. The cost drivers are real work, not paperwork theater: maintaining NADCAP welding accreditation alone can run a shop tens of thousands of dollars a year in audit fees, dedicated welding engineering, and continuous coupon testing; AS9102 first articles add days to weeks of inspection and documentation labor; full material and filler traceability requires premium-certified stock; and configuration control plus the OASIS-auditable data package consume quality-department hours per job. Lead times stretch because flight material often has long procurement windows, NDT is scheduled through accredited inspectors, and first articles must clear before production releases. For a new aerospace weldment, planning 8 to 16 weeks is common, and significantly longer for exotic alloys or electron-beam work. The premium buys traceability and process assurance that genuinely matter when a weld failure is catastrophic.
Use the IAQG OASIS database, which is the authoritative central registry for AS9100, AS9110, and AS9120 certifications. Ask the supplier for their OASIS certificate number and look it up directly rather than trusting a PDF, which can be edited or expired. In OASIS confirm the certificate is active, that it was issued by an aerospace-recognized certification body under the ICOP scheme rather than a generic ISO 9001 registrar, and most importantly that the certified scope explicitly includes welding and fabrication at the exact site that will ship your parts. Multi-site companies often hold certification at only some locations. Separately, verify NADCAP welding accreditation in the eAuditNet system for the specific AC7110 process you need, and check its expiry, since NADCAP cycles are shorter and lapse more frequently than AS9100. If either the scope or the site does not match, the certificate, however genuine, does not cover your work.
Last updated: July 2026
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