EN 1090 certification for steel structures
Anyone placing load-bearing steel structures on the market must have a working Factory Production Control system and have it verified annually by a notified body. Appfront builds the software that fills that FPC file directly from production: which weld, by which welder, according to which procedure, on which material, with which inspection.
What EN 1090 and your FPC file require
EN 1090-1 regelt de conformiteitsbeoordeling van dragende constructieonderdelen van staal en aluminium en is de basis voor de CE-markering en de prestatieverklaring die u meelevert. EN 1090-2 beschrijft de technische uitvoeringseisen. Centraal in beide staat de uitvoeringsklasse, EXC1 tot en met EXC4, die volgt uit de constructie en het risico. Hoe hoger de klasse, hoe zwaarder de eisen aan lassen, keuren en vastleggen.
Het systeem waarmee u aantoont dat u volgens die eisen produceert, heet Factory Production Control. Daar hangt lascoördinatie aan volgens EN ISO 14731, laskwaliteitseisen volgens de EN ISO 3834-reeks, gekwalificeerde lasprocedures met bijbehorende WPS en WPQR, en lasserskwalificaties volgens EN ISO 9606-1. Een aangemelde instantie toetst dat systeem, en daarna jaarlijks opnieuw.
In practice, the craftsmanship is in order but the paperwork lags behind. A welder obtains his qualification, but its validity must be confirmed periodically. A WPS relates to a material combination and a thickness, but in the workshop the nearest one gets picked up. Material certificates sit in a folder and cannot be linked to a specific component when asked. Fixing that the day before the audit is exactly what this software prevents.
We build this as a separate layer alongside what already runs. At steel fabricators that is often estimating and erection planning software, sometimes an engineering document management system holding drawings and revisions. If your production control runs through a MES, we pull part numbers and orders from it rather than have them entered again.
How we build your FPC file
We start on the shop floor. A file kept in the office always lags behind what has been welded; a file that is created on the shop floor is accurate.
Together with your welding coordinator, we establish which execution classes you produce to and which requirements follow from them. EXC2 and EXC3 differ considerably in what must be recorded and inspected; software that does not distinguish between them asks for too much or too little.
We go through your current FPC manual and determine, for each element, where the data comes from: welder qualifications, WPS and WPQR, material certificates, inspections, nonconformities and calibrations. Anything that stays manual we name explicitly, rather than pretending everything can be automated.
We work in sprints and start with the weld position: which weld belongs to which component, which WPS applies, and who may carry it out. Your welders and production planners help shape this, because the interface has to work with gloves on and in a noisy environment.
Before handover we run a round of the notified body's questions: show the complete file for this component. Whatever is not complete is not yet finished. We then hand over to your welding coordinator and production planning.
What the software actually does
Six components that together make up the FPC file. Which ones you need depends on your execution class and on how much welding is done in-house.
Weld registration per component
Which weld, on which component, by which welder, to which WPS, at what time. That lets you reconstruct a component after the fact down to the individual weld seam, which is precisely what an auditor or a client asks for after a complaint.
Welder qualifications with validity
For each welder, which qualifications they hold, for which range of materials, thicknesses and positions, and until when they remain valid. The system only allows welders onto work within their range, rather than finding out afterwards.
WPS and WPQR linked to the work
The correct welding procedure relates to a material combination, a thickness and a position. We link the WPS to the component so the welder sees which one applies, rather than leafing through the folder and picking the nearest one.
Material certificates linked to the component
A batch arrives with a certificate; that certificate must later be linkable to the component in which the steel is used. With a code on the material and a scan at issue, that traceability happens automatically.
Inspections and nonconformities
Visual inspection and non-destructive testing per weld, with the result and, in the event of a rejection, the repair and re-inspection. A nonconformity remains open until it has been resolved, and the history stays visible in the file.
File per order and per component
Everything together in the place where the question is asked: show for this component who welded it, to which procedure, from which material and how it was inspected. On one screen instead of four binders.
Who we build for
Four types of manufacturer. The difference lies mainly in the execution class and in whether welding is done in-house or subcontracted.
Steel fabricators and structural workshops
The core of EN 1090. Alongside the FPC documentation, software for estimating, drawing and assembly planning is usually already in use here; this layer sits alongside it and does not replace it.
Companies that also weld on site
Site welding falls under the same requirements as in the workshop, but conditions are worse and registration tends to fall behind more quickly. Being able to work offline is not a nice-to-have here but a requirement.
Manufacturers of standard steel products
Columns, beams, railings and load-bearing elements in series. Here the gain is that the file is generated per production run rather than compiled by hand per piece.
Companies that outsource welding
You place the component on the market and bear the responsibility, but the welding takes place elsewhere. That means requesting and monitoring someone else's file, which calls for a portal rather than a workshop app.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
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What we deploy follows from your workshop and your existing systems. For registration on the shop floor, usability weighs more heavily than functionality: a screen that asks too much gets filled in from memory at the end of the day, and then the file no longer adds up.
If you also want to keep track of material origin during sawing, cutting and offcuts, take a look at our software for batch traceability of metal products.
Why Appfront
We start by walking the workshop floor
Before we design anything, we observe the welding and the work preparation. The difference between a file that holds up and one that falls behind lies in actions that nobody mentions in a meeting room.
Preventing rather than flagging
Keeping a welder outside their qualification range is better than discovering it afterwards. We build the check at the moment of assignment, not in a monthly report.
Connecting to your ERP and drawings
Part numbers, material lists and orders already exist somewhere. We pull them in through integrations rather than having them re-entered, because duplicate data entry is where traceability breaks down.
Honest about what we don't do
We are not a notified body, we do not draw up welding procedures, and we do not assess inspections. That remains the work of your welding coordinator and your certifying partner. We build the system underneath.
Security and privacy
An FPC file contains little personal data, but a few items need care: which welder made which weld, and what qualifications they hold. That can be traced back to an individual and touches on their professional competence. We use this data for what it is meant for, namely product traceability, and not as a basis for production figures per employee.
Commercially, something else weighs more heavily here: your welding procedures and material choices are commercially sensitive, and the file contains all of them. We therefore keep access tight, with separate rights for who may read and who may change, and with a portal for external parties that only shows what relates to their order. Changes to a completed record are logged and visible as changes; a file that can be quietly updated after the fact has no value in an audit. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside go through our vulnerability disclosure policy.
Frequently asked questions about EN 1090 and the FPC file
It is the system through which you demonstrate that what happens in your workshop consistently meets the requirements attached to your execution class. It is therefore not a document but a way of working: who is authorised, which procedures govern welding, how materials are checked and traced, how inspections are recorded, and what happens when a deviation occurs. A notified body verifies that the system works, and then does so again every year.
They indicate how stringent the requirements are, rising with the risk of the structure. EXC1 covers simple structures with limited consequences of failure, while EXC4 covers structures where failure has serious consequences. The difference lies, among other things, in how much non-destructive testing is required and how extensively you must record. For software, this means the required records differ by class; we make that configurable rather than imposing the strictest variant across the board.
Een kwalificatie volgens EN ISO 9606-1 heeft een geldigheidsduur die periodiek moet worden bevestigd, doorgaans doordat de lascoördinator vaststelt dat de lasser het werk binnen zijn bereik is blijven doen. Dat is precies waar het in de praktijk misgaat: de kwalificatie is niet verlopen door een datum maar doordat niemand de bevestiging heeft vastgelegd. Wij bouwen die bevestiging in als een terugkerende taak bij de lascoördinator.
The structural steel software page covers the business process: costing, linking drawings, production and installation planning. This page is solely about the FPC file and the weld documentation that goes with certification. In practice the two overlap, and in that case we build the file layer against your existing systems rather than introducing a second system.
Partly. Certificates arrive as PDFs and sometimes in a structured format; with import and a code on the material, you can largely automate linking them to the batch. Some manual work remains at the initial registration on receipt. We state upfront which part can be automated based on what your suppliers provide, rather than promising full automation that falls apart with the first supplier.
Yes. Workshops have steel structures, machinery and sometimes basements, and the network drops out exactly where you need it. We build offline-first, with synchronisation as soon as a connection is available and a clear view of which registrations are still pending. For on-site installation this matters even more.
Yes, but the form changes. You remain responsible for the component you place on the market, so you need to be able to request and monitor your supplier's file. That means a portal where they submit documentation, plus alerts on what is missing, rather than a workshop app. Often this is a smaller undertaking than when you weld in-house.
No. The manual describes how you work, and it remains the document the notified body audits against. The software carries out that manual and collects the evidence. If your way of working differs from what the manual says, that is a reason to revise the manual; we then adapt the software to it, and not the other way round.
Building an FPC file system?
Tell us which execution classes you produce to and where the last audit got stuck, and we'll think through the weld registration, material traceability and integration with your production planning with you. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software project.