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I am a structural engineer that has been tasked with evaluating all of the welded curtain wall connections in a building that was constructed more than 10 years ago. The quality and quantity of the welds have recently been brought into question.

The welds are all inaccessible since they are covered with sheet rock. I am trying to determine if there is a published standard that delineates the minimum percentage of welds (i.e recommended sample size)for a given number of connections, that can be used to determine whether all the welds acceptable or unacceptable.

It is estimated that we have over 2,500 connections in question. Understandably, the owner is not looking forward removing sheet rock throughout the entire building.