The criteria in section 5 should not be considered as a boundary of suitability for service. Suitability for service analysis would lead to widely varying workmanship criteria unsuitable for a standard code. Furthermore, in some cases, the criteria would be more liberal than what is desirable and producible by a qualified welder. In general, the appropriate quality acceptance criteria and whether a deviation is harmful to the end use of the product should be the Engineer's decision. There are no bonus points awarded for being pretty.
Weld quality is an engineering decision.
The welding research conducted in this field has been presented to the welding engineering professions, not structural engineers and building officials. I will be presenting to you overviews of this research, put into a practical form for everyday application. 1. the static nature of loads in building structures, 2. The use of this document and others, with a proposed acceptance criteria for each form of weld discontinuity, will be presented and discussed in future issues. The International Institute of Welding and The Welding Institute have taken leadership roles in this field.