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B.C. Reg. 5/97
Superintendent of Motor Vehicles1
Deposited January 14, 1997
This archived regulation consolidation is current to December 31, 2021 and includes changes enacted and in force by that date. For the most current information, click here.

Motor Vehicle Act

Weld Repair of
Aluminum Alloy Wheels Regulation

[includes amendments up to B.C. Reg. 140/2003]

Contents
1Definitions
2Scope
3Insurance
4Subcontracting
5Equipment
6Qualifications of the weld repair supervisor
7Performance testing of welders
8Auditing requirement
9Repair or discard decision
10Type and nature of repairable wheel damage
11Allowable weld repairs
12Other permitted repairs
13Identification of facilities and repaired wheels
Schedule 1
Schedule 2

Definitions

1   In this regulation:

"certifier" means

(a) a designated representative of the Canadian Welding Bureau, or

(b) a registered professional engineer who has expertise in welding;

"facility" means a place of business where weld repairs are made to aluminum alloy wheels;

"GMAW" means gas metal arc welding as defined by the Canadian Standards Association W47.2-M1987 standard, Certification of Companies for Fusion Welding of Aluminum;

"GTAW" means gas tungsten arc welding as defined by the Canadian Standards Association W47.2-M1987 standard, Certification of Companies for Fusion Welding of Aluminum;

"log book" means a written record of repair and includes a computer record;

"welder" means a person who does weld repairs to aluminum alloy wheels.

[am. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 1.]

Scope

2   (1) The repair of wheels under this regulation is restricted to the repair of aluminum alloy wheels.

(2) The minimum material thickness of the part of an aluminum alloy wheel subject to a weld repair is 1.5 mm (0.060 inches).

Insurance

3   A facility must maintain in force at all times a policy of liability insurance specific to aluminum alloy wheel repair that provides liability coverage of at least $2 million.

Subcontracting

4   (1) A facility remains responsible for any welding and non-welding related services that have been subcontracted to others.

(2) The facility must not subcontract the welding of aluminum alloy wheels to another facility unless that facility meets the requirements of this regulation.

Equipment

5   A facility must, as a minimum, have the following equipment and be capable of doing the following procedures:

(a) equipment for doing cold and heat straightening;

(b) a welding machine (250 amps minimum) and other welding accessories to do aluminum repair welding;

(c) non-destructive test equipment to locate external cracks;

(d) computer numerical control (CNC) equipment or other equipment that produces a machine finish;

(e) measuring and calibration equipment.

Qualifications of the weld repair supervisor

6   (1) A facility must have a weld repair supervisor who has at least 5 years of experience in aluminum weld repair.

(2) The weld repair supervisor must be the owner of the facility or a person designated by the owner as weld repair supervisor.

(3) The weld repair supervisor is responsible for all weld repairs including

(a) making the repair or discard decision,

(b) assigning the severity rating to each repaired aluminum alloy wheel, and

(c) the weld quality of the repaired aluminum alloy wheels.

(4) The weld repair supervisor must ensure that

(a) the quality of the weld repair meets the requirements of this regulation, and

(b) a log book is maintained in which each weld repair is recorded indicating

(i) the name of the owner of the wheel,

(ii) the date of repair,

(iii) the name of the welder who performed the repair and his or her certification number, and

(iv) the severity rating code required by section 13 (2) (c).

(5) If it is decided under section 9 to discard a damaged wheel, the weld repair supervisor must ensure that

(a) the wheel is stamped as required by section 9 (3), and

(b) a log book is maintained in which each discard decision is recorded indicating

(i) the name of the owner of the wheel,

(ii) the date of the discard decision, and

(iii) the name of the weld repair supervisor who made the discard decision.

(6) The log book entries required by subsections (4) (b) and (5) (b) may be made in the same log book.

[am. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 2.]

Performance testing of welders

7   (1) Every welder must, as required by this section, submit to and pass a performance test to demonstrate proficiency in the test methods and acceptance criteria set out in Schedule 1.

(2) An initial performance test administered by a certifier must be successfully completed by the welder before the welder first commences to do weld repairs.

(3) In addition to the requirements of subsection (2), the performance test required by this section must be taken by the welder and successfully completed at intervals of not more than 2 years thereafter.

(4) The following weld tests must be performed:

(a) bead overlay;

(b) weld buildup;

(c) full penetration groove weld in flat position only.

Auditing requirement

8   (1) A facility must have a bi-annual audit performed by a certifier to determine whether the facility has adequate equipment, a qualified weld repair supervisor and a qualified welder working to approved welding standards.

(2) The information required by section 6 (4) (b) must be retained and made available for inspection by a certifier for a period of 7 years after it was recorded.

Repair or discard decision

9   (1) The weld repair supervisor must decide to either repair or discard a damaged aluminum alloy wheel.

(2) Non-destructive testing is not required but may be performed to augment the process of determining whether to repair or discard a damaged wheel.

(3) If the weld repair supervisor decides that the damaged wheel cannot be safely repaired, the wheel must be discarded and permanently stamped with the word "UNSAFE", using characters not less than 5 mm in height, on the inside of the wheel rim adjacent to the valve stem hole.

[am. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 3.]

Type and nature of repairable wheel damage

10   (1) Weld repair is restricted to the front and rear lip, front and rear rim flange, bead seat and the wheel well areas of an aluminum alloy wheel as shown in Schedule 2.

(2) Cosmetic weld repair is allowed on the entire wheel, including weld repair of surface nicks and gouges which do not affect the structural integrity of the wheel.

(3) If the weld repair supervisor decides that the damaged wheel cannot be safely repaired, the wheel must be discarded and permanently stamped with the word "UNSAFE", using characters not less than 5 mm in height, on the inside of the wheel rim adjacent to the valve stem hole.

Allowable weld repairs

11   (1) Wheel repairs that use welding in combination with heat and cold straightening are allowed.

(2) Weld repairs must only be carried out using approved procedures set out in GTAW or GMAW.

(3) The approved procedures under subsection (2) are for weld bead overlay, weld buildup and full penetration groove weld for aluminum castings, forgings and 5000 and 6000 series aluminum alloy wheels.

(4) The acceptance criteria for aluminum welds must conform to CSA W59.2-M1991 standard, Weld Aluminum Construction, section 6, Acceptance Criteria for Welded Joints.

(5) The acceptance criteria for internal welds must conform to

(a) CSA W59.2-M1991 standard, Weld Aluminum Construction, Table 8, Acceptance Criteria for Internal Defects, for size limits of internal defects, and

(b) CSA W59.2-M1991 standard, Weld Aluminum Construction, Figure 12, Acceptance Criteria for Dispersed Porosity.

[am. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 4.]

Other permitted repairs

12   (1) Cold straightening of wheels is allowed if the depth of deformation on the wheel is less than the flange material thickness and under 10 cm (4 inches) in length in any one location along the wheel bead circumference.

(2) Heat straightening of wheels is allowed if

(a) the heat is restricted to not more than 204°C (400°F),

(b) the depth of the wheel deformation considered repairable by heat straightening is not more than 10% of the wheel diameter on the front (outside) or rear (inside) bead, and

(c) the length of the wheel deformation considered repairable by heat straightening is not more than 10% of the wheel bead circumference on the front (outside) bead or 20% of the wheel bead circumference on the rear (inside) bead.

[en. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 5.]

Identification of facilities and repaired wheels

13   (1) Wheel repair facilities must use the vendor number assigned by the director to mark all weld repairs to wheels.

(2) Every wheel that has been weld repaired must have stamped into the inside surface of the wheel adjacent to the valve stem, using alpha-numerical characters no less than 5 mm in height, the following information:

(a) the vendor number referred to in subsection (1);

(b) the date of the repair;

(c) the severity rating of wheel damage on a scale from 0-9.

(3) The severity rating must be scale rated from "0" for a minor cosmetic repair to "9" for a major repair of damage that requires straightening in combination with welding.

[am. B.C. Reg. 140/2003.]

Schedule 1

[en. B.C. Reg. 40/2001, s. 6.]

Test Methods and Acceptance Criteria
for Welding Performance

1 Refer to the procedures outlined in Canadian Standards Association W47.2-M1987 standard or the GTAW or GMAW process for welding in a "flat position" of weld bead overlay, weld buildup and full penetration groove weld.

2 Refer to Canadian Standards Association W47.2-M1987 standard for a description of test methods and acceptance criteria. The welding test must be performed using one of 5083, 5086 or 6061 aluminum flat plate with an 8 mm (5/16 inch) material thickness and full penetration weld.

3 A welder must meet all of the following test standards:

Pass/Fail Test Standard

Type of TestQtyAcceptance/Rejection Criteria
Face bend2After bending, a flaw exceeding 3 mm (1/8 inch) in length is a failure.
Root bend2After bending, a flaw exceeding 3 mm (1/8 inch) in length is a failure.
Macro etch test2Incomplete penetration achieved through thickness of material welded is a failure.
Tensile test2A reduction of the ultimate tensile strength of aluminum alloy is a failure.
Fracture test2Incomplete penetration achieved through thickness of material welded is a failure.

Note: A tensile test is required for the initial performance test only and, once passed, it is not required for a subsequent re-test.

Schedule 2

[am. B.C. Reg. 413/97, App. 5.]

1.The enacting authority for this regulation was Superintendent of Motor Vehicles; changed to minister by 1997-31-29.

[Provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 318, relevant to the enactment of this regulation: section 217]