Fact sheet F5 · Part B practical
What happens on CWI Part B, the practical?
CWI Part B is the practical: 46 questions in 120 minutes, answered on paper while you measure supplied weld replicas with a supplied tool kit and look things up in the Book of Specifications. It's the first of the three CWI parts you sit, at an AWS exam site.
- Exam
- CWI
- Checked
- October 2026
- Source
- AWS Part B information sheet, March 2024
Part B questions
46questions in 120 minutes
Part B is open book, paper-based and hands-on, and everything is supplied on the day: the Book of Specifications, an Exam Exhibits Booklet, a four-piece plastic weld replica set and an inspection tool kit. The pass mark is 72%.
Source: AWS Part B information sheet, March 2024, checked October 2026
F5.1What's on the desk
- Book of Specifications
- A sample code AWS wrote for this exam, 2017 edition. It's a free PDF from AWS, so you can work with the real book before test day (AWS Exam References and Editions Guide, August 2025, checked October 2026).
- Exam Exhibits Booklet
- Sample welding documents such as WPSs, PQRs and welder qualification records, plus photographs. Confidential: you see it only in the exam room.
- Plastic weld replica set
- Four specimens, described by AWS as T-joint, groove, bend and pipe samples. Also confidential.
- Inspection tool kit
- The gauges and measuring tools listed below. AWS sells a sample kit, so you can practice with the same kind of tools.
F5.2The tool kit, as AWS lists it
- Fillet weld gauges
- V-WAC gauge
- Dial caliper
- Ruler
- C4.1 gauge
- Protractor
- Hi-lo gauge
- Magnifying glass
- Mirror
- Flashlight
F5.3How the two hours go
AWS's own description is one line: evaluate a physical characteristic against given acceptance criteria and make the correct decision. AWS B5.1:2025, Table 8.1 sets minimums: at least 34% on welding inspection and discontinuities, at least 28% on procedure and performance qualification, and at least 8% each on destructive testing, NDE application, and specifications and drawings (checked October 2026).
Units follow the venue. Sites in the US and Canada use inches and degrees Fahrenheit; international sites use millimeters and Celsius. Practice on the scale you'll be handed.
Once the exam starts there are no scheduled breaks. One person at a time may step out, and the clock keeps running (AWS CWI Examination User Guide, September 2026, checked October 2026).
Gauge reading eats time if it isn't automatic. The inspection gauges page goes through what each tool measures. Drawings and documents use AWS A2.4 symbols, which you can drill on the welding and NDE symbols page.
About Part B practice tests
The replicas and the exhibits booklet stay with AWS, and every candidate signs an agreement not to disclose exam content. Anything sold as real Part B questions is either invented or leaked. What you can practice honestly: the free Book of Specifications, a sample tool kit, and questions on the same skills. AWS's own Part B seminar and other options are priced on CWI prep compared.
F5.4Sources
- AWS Part B information sheet, March 2024 — 46 questions, 120 minutes, materials, units (checked October 2026)
- AWS CWI Examination User Guide, September 2026 — tool kit, breaks, attestation (checked October 2026)
- AWS Part B Book of Specifications, 2017 — free download; we link it and don't reproduce it (checked October 2026)
- AWS Exam References and Editions Guide, August 2025 — BOS 2017 edition (checked October 2026)
- AWS B5.1:2025 — Table 8.1, Part B minimum percentages (checked October 2026)
Gauges on Part B, recall on Part A
For the closed-book side, drill practice questions in our CWI prep app on iPhone or iPad.