Stress Range Categories for Fatigue Design Of Splices

[novus]

In our Canadian Welding code CSA W59 the stress range category for the weld metal and base metal at a splice (Ex.8)in a plate made with a complete penetration groove weld is a Category B or C in the text description and illustrations. To qualify for these categories it is necessary to do NDT. Assume the actual stress range at a splice is half that required for a Category C. Why is there no lower category, D or E which doesn't require NDT ? Am I obligated to treat every splice as a C as a minimum, even when the stress range is very low. The application I have in mind is for the flanges of a built- up beam for a crane ruinway where a splice nearer the ends might be at lower stress ranges.

I would appreciate an answer from members who work with the fatigue provisions of AWS D1.1, as our codes, I believe are very similar.