Coating surveys are the specialty services, performed post-production. The survey jobs usually have different motives and different techniques. The most common survey types are:
- Condition Assessment, where the current condition of the coated material and the protective coating on it is analyzed. These are usually routine surveys for structures in service, in order to make maintenance plans and repair any failures or damages before it becomes a major problem.
- Final and/or Receiving Inspections, which differ from routine inspections as this service is provided after the coating is applied and ready for service. This kind of inspections focus on the general success and quality of the coating, not on each stage of application. This study often requires destructive tests as well as general inspections (such as visual inspection and thickness verification) and aims to determine if the previous coating job was successful while it can not provide any traceability nor it assures the conformance of each production stage.
- Failure Analysis are the most sophisticated kind of coating surveys. Basically it is based on various field and laboratory tests to understand the root-cause of a problem. Without a failure analysis, any repair job is subject to possible repeated failures and is not recommended. This kind of analysis is usually unique in each project, as the method and required tests are determined during the job.
The output of coating surveys do not have typical reporting format as the method will change in every project. Each survey report is generated from scratch and includes detailed information about the study.
Another important aspect of coating surveys is that, the qualification requirements of individuals to perform coating surveys are much higher than any inspection project. By society rules, the coating surveys are meant to be performed by either PCS or Level 3 certified individuals. Common Level 1 or Level 2 inspectors are not qualified for coating surveys, as it will require a great level of knowledge and experience as well as profession in advanced inspection and test techniques.
Coatek provides world-class coating survey services only with Level 3 and/or PCS certified experts with instructor status on their fields.