Update: This article was updated to reflect that Alvin Boutte is now the Point of Contact for questions regarding Workmanship Standards.

As NASA continues its transition to Joint Industry Standard IPC J-STD-001ES for soldering workmanship and away from the cancelled NASA standards (NASA-STD-8739.2 and NASA-STD-8739.3), the agency Workmanship Program is receiving a lot of questions about training card requirements for operators, inspectors and trainers.

The answers to most of these questions are covered in paragraph 9.2 of NASA-STD 8739.6, Implementation Requirements for NASA Workmanship Standards. They also can be found on the program’s Frequently Asked Questions about J-STD-001ES Adoption Web page.

The most common question is this:

“I’m ready for retraining. My contract requires NASA-STD-8739.2 or .3, but I want to prepare for the next contract, which will require training on IPC J-STD-001ES. Which course should I take given that I won’t be taking training again for two years?”

In this case, the most important thing to remember is that pre-existing contract requirements take precedence over new Workmanship Program requirements, unless otherwise permitted or required by a formal contract change. However, new Workmanship requirements can greatly facilitate the waiver process if the program or project decides to allow use of the new standard when the cancelled standards are written into the contract. Suppliers should refer to NASA-STD-8739.6, paragraph 9.2, and consider the long-term cost benefit in approaching their customers and requesting use of IPC J-STD-001ES when operators, inspectors or instructors are due to renew their soldering workmanship training.

Links to other Workmanship standards, along with notes, background information and status updates on changes in progress, are available on the Links to Required Workmanship Standards page. Some of these links are also provided at the top of the NASA Workmanship Home Page.

Contact Alvin Boutte for more information on the NASA Workmanship Program and associated standards.