Owner’s Relationship to the Coating Inspector

9.4 Owner’s Relationship to the Coating Inspector

• Measuring ambient conditions at the work site throughout the job (dew point, relative

9.4.1 The Coating Specification and

humidity, air and steel temperatures, etc.)

the Coating Inspector

• Pre-inspection (fabrication defects, steel

It is important to realize that almost every

condition, presence of surface contami-

user of coating inspection has their own

nants, etc.)

ideas of the duties and responsibilities of an

• Pre-cleaning (removal of oil, grease, dirt,

inspector. There seems to be no general

etc.)

agreement within the industry on the day-to-

• Surface preparation (equipment, abra-

day activities of an inspector and the inspec-

sives, cleanliness, profile, etc.)

tion itself. An independent inspector, partic-

• Coating materials (storage, identification,

ularly, will find the job changes according to

mixing and thinning, etc.)

the client.

• Application (equipment, thinners, WFT, DFT, recoat times, etc.)

Some owners regard the inspector as a proj- ect supervisor and assign duties like super-

• Inspection (hold points, visual, holiday

vising safety issues or labor, keeping track

detection, etc.)

of and ordering materials, and normal qual-

• Documentation (record keeping, reports,

ity control testing.

etc.)

In the best case, the specification outlines Other owners may instruct the inspector inspection procedures, defines the inspec-

simply to observe the work, make tests and tor’s tasks and includes pertinent criteria

measurements, and report directly to the such as:

owner without any dialogue with contractors or their workers. Conceivably, at some point

• When, where, and how many measure-

an inspector may be called on to represent

ments to take

either extreme.

• Pass/fail criteria for all measurements

For the purposes of CIP, NACE has defined

• What inspection tools to use

the inspector’s role as that of a quality con-

• Guidelines for completing and submitting

trol technician who is primarily responsi-

reports

ble for observing and reporting the technical aspects of a coating project.

9-10 Coating Project Specification

Supervision and health, safety and the envi-

• Identity plates

ronment (HSE) oversight are not considered

• Breather holes

to be part of the inspector’s role unless spe-

• Electrical equipment

cifically designated.

• Metering and monitoring instruments

With this in mind, Section 9.5 examines var-

• Gauge glass covers

ious parts of the specification and considers Also check from time to time to see that the

the role of the inspector, particularly duties necessary protection remains in place until

and responsibilities in relation to the specifi-

the job is completed.

cation.

Documentation If there is more than one inspector on the

job, each one should know exactly the items Documentation is included with the section

for which he or she is responsible, and the on inspection and refers to all record keep-

supervising inspector should ensure that ing and reports of the inspection process.

each item to be inspected is assigned to Inspectors should remember that the docu-

someone.

mentation they prepare may be the most sig- nificant record of the work performed on a project. It should be accurate and easy to understand, for readers who may not have specific knowledge of the job or the project location.