P R O B L E M S O LV I N G F O R U M

How Much Time Does Inspection Require?

Answer
Rolf Knudsen
NORDCAPP
(Nordic Coating Application
Services)
Grimstad, Norway:
Q
QA
A &
be only a touch of make-up or it
could be vital to the protection of
the coating system. I usually expect
to cover about 200 m2 of the final
coat every hour on critical surfaces
and maybe twice that much on oth-
The time spent on preliminary in- A project sometimes can be er surfaces.
spection of a substrate before coat- held up by what seems to be So, let’s look at how much time
ing application should never be unnecessary extra time spent would be needed to inspect a 300 m2
viewed as an unnecessary expense on inspection. How many hours area. Inspection of the surface
or an impediment to job progress. should be required to inspect a preparation work would take one
Any faults on a substrate are criti- project? Is there a standard hour (while the work crew takes a
cal, and any unfinished work at this amount of time per square break or the painting crew gets
stage (e.g., grinding of welds, re- metre needed for inspection? ready). After the primer coat, in-
moval of splatter, rounding of sharp spection would take one more hour
edges, etc.) will become the next man’s headache. while painters follow along and do brush touch-up
Let the inspector do his job here. How long it takes work. (If no touch-up is necessary, great. They can
depends on the quality of the surface preparation sit down.) To inspect the intermediate and final coats
work, but it should be remembered that any faults would take about two hours total, if it’s a good job.
found at this point will normally be corrected by the Therefore, total inspection time for a project of this
contractor without extra charge, whereas later they size (excluding the time spent on preliminary inspec-
will likely incur additional costs and require extra tion) is about four hours. Most of this work could be
work. done without impeding the progress of the painting
When pricing an inspection project, I use some crew. For instance, the inspector could be checking
simple arithmetic to evaluate necessary time require- one area while the painting crew is working in an-
ments. other area. About 60 man-hours would be required
First of all, for surface preparation, such as blast for painting a project of this size, but less than half
cleaning new steel to Sa 21⁄2 or Sa 3 on a mixed steel of the four hours of inspection would interfere with
construction such as a ship’s tank, I allow one hour the painting work, so the time lost to inspection
of inspection time for every 30 man-hours spent would be about 3% of the total project. By the con-
blasting. This usually equals about 300 m2 per hour. tractor and inspector working together to achieve
Of course, this is subject to the complexity of the better scheduling and communication, this could be
structure and various other factors. reduced even more.
Generally, I expect this much time to cover a com- To achieve this kind of inspection efficiency, the in-
plete inspection and some minor repairs and reblast- spector must be part of the team and not part of the
ing of small areas. If the contractor is a real bad case, problem. To do this, for instance, he would be prepar-
the time consumption can be double—or worse. ing his equipment before the blasting is finished. (Of
Application of the primer is the second most im- course, the burden of teamwork does not rest on the
portant procedure. I usually expect to use the same inspector alone. The contractor would have a few men
amount of time inspecting the primer as the blasted do the reblasting who understand the instructions giv-
steel. en and the markings used by inspectors.)
By the intermediate coat, I generally have a feeling I have experience as both a worker and an in-
for the contractor’s work. If the quality is good, I spector, and very seldom have I seen progress im-
would expect to cover about 300 m2 every 30–40 peded by inspections. When a contractor and an in-
minutes. spector work together as a team, the result is usual-
The final coat is unlike the previous ones. It could ly the opposite.

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 P R O B L E M S O LV I N G F O R U M
Answer
Alan Nesbitt
Nor-Clean Limited
Tyne & Wear, UK:
As a ship repair contractor, we always find that
time is one of the major factors on projects—from
initial surface preparation to final coating inspection.
Yes, many hours are lost daily on long inspections
due mainly, in my view, to inexperienced inspectors.
They are qualified and have certificates to prove it,
but many lack the one basic instinct that is manda-
tory in our industry: common sense.
An inspector who has worked in the industry for a
number of years has the knowledge, experience, and
common sense to be decisive and make on-the-spot
decisions, saving time and money.
Surface preparation standards must be upheld, and
inspection work to determine compliance with those
standards must be done as efficiently as possible.
However, many of today’s young inspectors are com-
ing straight from schooling with no real feel for the
Copyright ©1999, Technology Publishing Company
PCE September 1999
game. They use comparators and profile gauges to ex-
haustively check the substrate and work to the guide
book. This in itself is not wrong, but everyday work-
ing practices very rarely, if ever, match the guide.
For example, inexperienced inspectors might take
many hours to conduct a detailed inspection of a tank to
be lined, whereas experienced inspectors would know
more or less at a glance where to look and what to look
for, thereby saving time and unnecessary expense.
So, how many hours should be required to inspect?
There can be no set time. There are so many things
to look for, we must put our trust in inspectors’ abil-
ity to be able, knowledgeable, and accurate in their
judgment.
Answer
Iain Wares
Salamis/SGB Limited
Aberdeen, Scotland:
The amount of inspection time required will vary
from project to project, depending on the checks spec-
5
 P R O B L E M S O LV I N G F O R U M
ified. Different specifications may call for more dry
film thickness checks per square metre or blast profile
checks, for example. The requirement for inspection
should not necessarily lead to production delays, al-
though “unnecessary” inspection probably will.
Whatever quality control checks are specified, they
clearly must be carried out as part of the contract.
Whether inspection is performed by the contractor or
by a third-party inspector, production could be
slowed if inspection is not planned properly as an in-
tegral part of the overall process.
Hold-ups and “unnecessary extra” inspections are
invariably caused by a lack of clarity somewhere
along the line as to what is required by the specifi-
cation, leading to inspectors and contractors working
outside its parameters.
If approached in a practical manner, inspection
should not interrupt the process of surface prepara-
tion or coating application, because most inspection
checks are a verification of the successful completion
of a process or part of a process—at least they should
be. Therefore, most inspections can be planned and
carried out at natural breaks in the process, thus
minimising the impact on production.
A clear understanding by all parties of the specifi-
cation and the quality plans, coupled with good in-
ternal quality control and a trained, competent work-
force, should mean no unnecessary time is wasted
on inspection.
If the project managers and the inspectors agree
and accept an inspection plan, and if the operatives
produce quality work to specification, there will be
no unnecessary time spent on inspection. The only
“unnecessary extra” inspection time is that which is
not specified and agreed, or time spent inspecting
sub-specification work and the subsequent rework.
Answer
Paul Perkins
Maryland State Highway Administration
Baltimore, MD, USA:
Inspection is essential to cleaning and painting. The
inspector is the owner’s representative at the job site.
If a decision or a field adjustment becomes necessary,
dialogue between the contractor and the owner can be
enhanced through the inspector’s knowledge of the
work operations. The inspector is the owner’s insur-
ance that work will be performed properly and in ac-
cordance with the contract documents.
The Maryland State Highway Administration pro-
6 PCE September 1999
vides full-time inspection by trained coatings inspec-
tors for all bridges under contract for cleaning and
painting. This includes the field painting of all new
bridges under construction and bridges being reha-
bilitated. To achieve quality work, we need a good
specification, a qualified contractor, and a knowl-
edgeable inspector.
If the inspector is delaying the work, it is either be-
cause the work is not being performed in accordance
with the contract documents and good working prac-
tices, or the inspector is not knowledgeable and
properly trained.
If the project is being delayed because the contrac-
tor has not met the requirements of the contract doc-
uments, it is the responsibility of the coatings in-
spector to stop work until the contractor makes ap-
propriate adjustments to satisfy these requirements.
This is not unnecessary time spent. Through the bid-
ding process, the contractor has agreed to perform
the work according to the contract documents at the
price bid and in the time specified.
The inspector’s responsibilities are defined by the
contract documents. Duties include checking the sur-
face profile, degree of cleaning, temperature, humid-
ity, dew point, and dry film thickness per coat. The
inspector must also ensure that all environmental
concerns and regulations are being satisfied.
A good inspector must know what to look for,
when to act, and how to act. Unnecessary time can
be spent if the inspector is not properly trained.
Most important, the coatings inspector must report
to the owner and not the contractor. However, con-
sistency among the owner’s inspectors is essential.
The contractor needs to know what to expect and the
degree of enforcement of the specifications.
Full-time coatings inspection is essential to obtain-
ing good performance by the contractor. This some-
times means two shifts or a 10- to 12-hour day and
overtime on weekends.
An alternative to full-time inspection is checking the
contractor’s performance at the completion of critical
phases of the work, such as right before painting. This
alternative may reduce the cost of inspection but runs
a risk that all environmental requirements may not be
satisfied or that the paint may not be applied under the
proper conditions with the specified dry film thickness
per coat. More than likely, the owner would take cor-
rective action rather than require complete reworking
and perhaps get less than what he or she paid for.
Another alternative to full-time inspection is a con-
Copyright ©1999, Technology Publishing Company
 P R O B L E M S O LV I N G F O R U M

tract based on a performance warranty. The contractor mon-sense approach to completing the project.
cleans and paints the structure (without detailed in- The evidence for quality achievement is found in
spection by the owner), meets all environmental regu- quality control documentation and record keeping.
lations, and provides a five- to ten-year warranty. Records of calibration, environmental conditions,
The time for inspection cannot be measured by profile, dry film thickness readings, and batch num-
units of surface area, nor can it be based on a per- bers indicate how the work was done and its rela-
centage of the project cost. If a trained, knowledge- tionship to the final product. This documentation
able inspector is properly managed, he or she will should also describe deviations from specifications,
protect the owner’s investment. Good inspection is provide information on the repair procedures that
the owner’s control of the project. were required, and include a sign-off verifying the
date the work was completed and inspected.
Answer In conclusion, so as not to delay the work, coating
Capt. Marino Marsi inspection can be done during break times and meal
S.G. Pinney & Associates, Inc. times and after the workers have left the job site. By
Mon Falcone, Italy: coordinating inspection tasks, multiple things can be
Achieving quality does not happen by accident. In- accomplished in short order. Ideally, the inspector
stead, quality results from calibrating gauges, moni- should appear immediately after blasting stops, con-
toring environmental conditions, and inspecting all duct his checks, and leave the area. He also should
job processes. work with the paint foreman to cause as little down
For proper inspection, specific information should time for the crew as possible. In fact, his goal should
be documented in four major areas: weather condi- be zero down time.
tions (temperature, humidity, dew point, and surface
temperature); surface preparation (degree of cleaning
specified, method of cleaning, and results achieved);
coating materials (products used, batch numbers,
thinner types and amounts, mixing requirements,
etc.); and application procedure (methods used, film
thickness, etc.). These standard quality control
checks should be made for every project.
It is expected that a painting contractor will apply
a coating system according to the job specification.
Therefore, he is responsible for assuring that the fin-
ished project meets the quality requirements of the
specification. Simply stated, this means the contrac-
tor should make all of the necessary quality control
checks, and ideally there should be no need for own-
er or third-party inspection.
However, there are many reasons why this does not
always work—poorly prepared specifications; a lack
of understanding of specifications or of inspection
techniques; and, in general, the production orienta-
tion of the contractor.
Since third-party inspection is one of the necessary
components for a successful painting project, the re-
sponsibility of the inspection company cannot be
overlooked.
It must be realised, however, that many variables
affect the quality of a coatings job. It is the inspec-
tor’s responsibility to not only understand and en-
force the specification but also to maintain a com-

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PCE September 1999 7