|
TEAM
|
FULL-TIME COATING INSPECTION So it's time to paint your water tank again. You're probably thinking "Boy, didn't we just do this a few years ago?" You have the engineer's estimate and you go to the Utilities Director and try to convince him or her to appropriate the necessary funds. Once that is taken care of, you get hit with another decision. What about a coating inspector? You then ask around and get some quotes. Do you really need to spend another $20,000 or $30,000 to have a full-time inspector on the jobsite? The real question is – can you afford not to? A Coating Inspector should be an integral part of your repainting project. But, what is a Coating Inspector, and what do they do? This article will answer those questions and much more. Before we talk about a coating inspector, though, we must discuss the various aspects of a repainting project. Any good coating project needs to start with a thorough assessment inspection. You, as the owner, need to know what you have to work with and what the best course of action would be to get the maximum life out of your tank. At that point a comprehensive, detailed, project specification must be assembled. This document will be the foundation of the project from beginning to end. It is important that the specification cover not only the technical aspects, but the management and administrative aspects, as well. We can't forget, however, that the best specification in the world will not overcome a poor application. How do you guard against a poor application? That brings us to the position of "Coating Inspector." The job title of coating inspector has been around for a long time. People that call themselves "coating inspectors" range from retired painters that base everything on "how I did it" to highly trained professional coatings experts. One way to weed out the want-to-be coating inspectors is to rely on the National Association of Corrosion Engineers' (NACE) Coating Inspector Training and Certification Program. This is a certification obtained by three weeks of rigorous training followed by successfully completing a peer review. Once a person has obtained their NACE Certification, you know you have a person that at least has been trained correctly. But, a NACE Certification is not the final answer. There are so many different fields where industrial coatings are utilized, that a person's background will also determine their effectiveness as a coating inspector. For example, an inspector that only has experience on bridges might not be the most proficient at performing a coating inspection on a water tower. A big part of inspection is knowing where to look. Now that we know what a coating inspector is, you might ask "What do they do?" A coating inspector's job is to monitor the contractor's work for adherence to the project specifications and the coating manufacturer's recommended procedures. Several forces can effect the outcome of an industrial coating project. Some of these variable are: proper surface preparation, proper storage of the unused coating, proper mixing of the coating, substrate surface temperature, wet film thickness, proper cure time, and much more. If even one of these items is very far off, the whole project can be a disaster. So, you know who they are and what they do, but is all this really necessary? Let's start by comparing two city utilities. City "A" painted their elevated tanks in the early eighties. During that work there was a NACE Certified Coating Inspector on-site full-time. After completion of the project, they hired an engineer to inspect the tank every two years and assess the coating and structural condition. The engineer recently determined that these tanks were ready to be repainted. That was fifteen years after they were last painted! They were not in bad shape, but they were showing signs of coating degradation, mechanical abrasions, etc. The City had the funds already appropriated and they agreed with the decision. The tanks were re-painted and, once again, a NACE Certified Coating Inspector was on-site full-time. Given the current coating technology, this coating system could last as much as twenty years! Now let's look at City "B". Actually this City could be a number of locations throughout Florida and probably the United States. When it came time to paint their tank, they cowered at the thought of paying additional money for a coating inspector. They chose to have a few spot inspections by a NACE Certified Coating Inspector. Approximately five years later an assessment inspection was performed. There were numerous rusted areas on the exterior. The interior coating was failing and needed replaced. The City chose to recoat parts of the tank. Again, a few spot inspections were performed by a NACE Certified Coating Inspector . Five years later an assessment inspection was performed and, guess what?, the coating was blistered and in failing condition. The City then chose to recoat parts of the tank again. At this point they have painted their tank essentially three times in the same amount of time as City A's single paint job. What was the difference? Was the contractor at City B incompetent? No, both Cities used qualified, well-known contractors. Was the coating material flawed? No, both tanks used the same manufacturer's coating. The only difference? The level of inspection. The reason for a full-time NACE Certified Coating Inspector is based on three reasons: human nature, education, and interest. When a coating contractor performs a repainting project, his main concern, even if subconsciously, is to get the job done and go to the next one. He is in business to make money. You can't blame him for that. But, human nature will look at a finished job and say "yeah, I got that part", and another person may come along and find a missed spot. The contractor didn't miss that spot on purpose. He just thought that he was finished, so he moved on. Any contractor will tell you that they want to do a good job, but what constitutes a good job? That brings up the next point – education. A painter only knows what they see during a painting project. They rarely get to inspect a tank during it's service life. A good NACE inspector, however, knows where to look for problems based on his previous experience. Another important part of education is knowing the definitions of terms used in the specifications. What is a "Near White Metal Blast"? If you ask ten painters, you'll probably get eight different answers. But if you go to the SSPC manual, you will get a very comprehensive explanation. What usually happens is the contractor is working along and says "Oh, that's good enough." or "Yeah, I did what the spec said." But, remember, he is in business to make money. He might think that a certain detail doesn't matter, when, in fact, that little detail will turn into a problem later. Now, it matters where your interests are. Are you trying to get the job done and move on or are you trying to get the owner the best job possible so the coating will last as long as possible? Which person would you rather have signing the inspection reports? A lot of owners like the idea of spot inspections. However, this plan still leaves lots of "loopholes". The inspector can go through the job site and point out problems, missed areas, etc., but who will make sure those problems are fixed? Usually a coat of paint will be installed over these spots and no one will know if the area was, maybe, blasted correctly, or if the primer was applied thoroughly. Five years down the road those problems will re-surface and then the owner is stuck re-painting the tank again. With full-time inspection, the problems that are found can be marked and re-checked before moving on to the next step. Specific issues can be followed throughout the project and a resolution can be found before the completion of that part of the project. The NACE Certified Coating Inspector should be the "eyes and ears" of the owner and should approach the project with the owner's best interest in mind. So, the question is – should you spend the extra money for an inspector now? In contrast, ask yourself "Can I afford to do this project again in five years?" The price of an inspector doesn't seem so expensive when compared to the cost of repainting the tank in five or even ten years. Wouldn't you rather do it right the first time and not worry about it for maybe twenty years? You decide, but now you know the facts. |
Send mail to webmaster@tankteam.com
with questions or comments about this web site.
|