Overview
Induscoat coordinates the coating and cold repair scope of your planned shutdowns: surveys and method before the outage, materials and access ready at lockout, sequencing with the other trades, quality and safety follow-up during the work, then a complete handover dossier. For plants and mine sites in Quebec and Ontario.
In a shutdown, coating work depends on everything around it: inspection, welding, scaffolding, permits, weather. Induscoat runs that package as a single unit with one point of responsibility. Surveys, written methods and materials are settled while the plant is running; during the outage our crews follow a sequence agreed with the other trades, conditions are logged every shift and hold points are signed off before moving on. Your shutdown planner keeps the master schedule and the permit system, and we report into it. New installations and process start-up stay with engineering firms.
What we coordinate, and what we do not
In a shutdown, coating and cold repair are often the last work to be planned and the first to be cut short. Our role is to take that scope from start to finish, as one clearly defined work package inside your outage.
- Internal linings for tanks, vessels and containment basins (tank lining).
- Cold rebuilding of pumps, valves, flanges, water boxes and chutes.
- Protective coatings on structural steel, piping and supports that can only be reached during the outage.
- Crews, materials, preparation equipment and quality control for that package.
Your shutdown planner or maintenance lead keeps the master schedule, the permit system and the arbitration between contractors; we fit into it. We do not manage capital projects, represent the owner against an EPC contractor or commission process systems.
Before the shutdown: the preparation that makes the difference
What derails a shutdown coating job is rarely the application itself: blasting that takes longer than planned, steel below the dew point, a product that is not on site, scaffolding that is not ready. Our guide to fitting tank lining into the shutdown window covers these traps. So the preparation happens while the plant runs:
- Surveys: equipment walkdown, condition of the existing coating, surfaces to treat, access and site constraints.
- Method: a written procedure per item, preparation grade, system, application conditions, hold points and acceptance criteria, approved before the outage.
- Materials: ordered, received and stored at the right temperature, technical and safety data sheets on file.
- Access and environment: scaffolding with your contractor, confined space ventilation and lighting, heating or dehumidification, abrasive containment and waste handling.
- Permits: confined space entry, lockout and isolation by your crew, under your permit system.
- Contingencies: pre-approved repair options for the damage likely to be found when the equipment is opened.
Sequencing with the other trades
The coating covers the steel: anything that needs to touch or see that steel has to come first. We build our sequence with the planner around a few simple rules:
- The inspector takes thickness readings and completes examinations before preparation, and accepts metal repairs before we cover them.
- Welding, grinding and any nearby hot work are finished before final blasting; nothing hot near fresh coating or solvent vapour.
- Blasting is separated from other trades in time or in space, because of dust and noise.
- Cure does not compress: the coating has to start early enough to cure before filling or return to service.
When the window is too short for everything, we say so before the outage. Some work can come out of it: in-place coating without disassembly or a pipe leak repair without shutdown frees the outage for the work that truly needs it.
During the work: quality and safety follow-up
Every shift, conditions are measured and logged: steel temperature, relative humidity, dew point. Hold points are respected, with your representative when requested:
- After preparation: cleanliness grade per ISO 8501-1, soluble salts per ISO 8502-9, condensation risk per ISO 8502-4.
- Between coats: dry film thickness per ISO 19840 or SSPC-PA 2, recoat windows respected.
- Before return to service: holiday testing per NACE SP0188, cure check, adhesion per ISO 4624 or ASTM D4541 when the specification calls for it.
A deviation is recorded, corrected and re-checked before moving to the next step. On safety, we work under your permit system and to the requirements of the CNESST in Quebec or the Occupational Health and Safety Act in Ontario: job hazard analysis, confined space entry, respiratory protection, coactivity meetings. In classified areas, cold repair avoids a hot work permit for the repair itself (hazardous area repair without hot work). A daily progress report goes to the shutdown coordinator.
The handover dossier
At handover you receive a dossier per item, usable by your inspector and by the next crew that works on the equipment:
- Surfaces treated, system applied and material batch numbers.
- Ambient condition logs and the result of every hold point.
- Thickness readings, holiday and adhesion test results.
- Before, during and after photos, deviations found and corrections made.
- Return-to-service conditions (cure required before filling or immersion) and a recommended re-inspection interval.
Winter or spring shutdown
In Quebec and Ontario, many plants put major work on the spring shutdown or the holiday shutdown. In winter, epoxy cures slowly and cold steel condenses: a heated enclosure, tempered steel, warm material storage and humidity monitoring belong in the plan from the start (cold weather epoxy application). In spring, humidity and thaw make dehumidification and dew point control the main concern. Either way, these means are planned before the outage, not on the first morning.
When this service is not the right answer
- A capital project, expansion or new installation: that is the role of an engineering firm or an owner-side project manager.
- Master planning of the whole shutdown, across all trades: that stays with your planner.
- A single repair with no coordination needed: our maintenance and rehabilitation service is enough.
- Large areas to protect outside a shutdown: see our protective coatings service.
Send the list of equipment involved, the date and planned length of your shutdown through the quote request; we will tell you what fits in the window and what should come out of it.
Typical Applications
- Tank, vessel and basin linings during planned shutdowns
- Cold rebuilding of pumps, valves, flanges and water boxes
- Protection of steel and piping that is out of reach while running
- Sequencing with inspection, welding and scaffolding trades
Typical Problems We Solve
- Coating scope planned last and cut short when the outage runs late
- Blasting or cure time underestimated, delaying the return to service
- Materials, scaffolding or heating not ready at lockout
- Hot work or metal repairs scheduled after coating, forcing rework
What You Receive
- Written method per item, approved before the outage
- Coating sequence built into your shutdown schedule
- Shift logs of ambient conditions and hold-point results
- Handover dossier per item with test results, batch numbers and re-inspection interval
Timeline
Set with your shutdown planner, based on the work package and the outage window.
Standards & Certifications
- ISO 8501-1 — surface cleanliness grades
- ISO 8502-4 / ISO 8502-9 — condensation risk and soluble salts
- ISO 19840 / SSPC-PA 2 — dry film thickness measurement
- NACE SP0188 — holiday testing of coatings on metal
Industries We Serve
- Mining — concentrator shutdowns: tanks, thickeners, slurry pumps
- Chemical & Petrochemical — tank and containment linings during turnarounds
- Energy — condenser water boxes and cooling circuits during outages
- Cement & Limestone — chutes, hoppers and dust collectors during kiln shutdowns
Service FAQ
Do you manage the whole shutdown?
No. Our responsibility is the coating and cold repair package, from survey to final records. The overall organisation of the outage (all-trades schedule, permits, priorities between contractors) stays with you; we report into it like any specialist contractor.
What if the window is too short for all the coating work?
We say so before the outage, not during it. The options: take some items out of the shutdown with an in-place or online repair, phase the work with temporary protection until the next shutdown, or choose a system whose cure fits the window, within the limits of its data sheet.
Can coating work be done in a winter shutdown?
Yes, provided the means are planned ahead: an enclosure that can be heated, steel brought to the temperature the data sheet requires and kept above the dew point, materials stored warm. These items are priced and scheduled before the shutdown, because they affect cure and therefore the sequence.
Technical guides
- Tank internal lining: fitting the job inside the shutdown window
- Applying epoxy coatings in cold weather during a winter shutdown
- In-place coating: protecting equipment without taking it apart
- Hazardous area repair without hot work
- SSPC-SP10 / NACE No. 2 surface preparation guide
- Epoxy coating service life in immersion