Overview
Induscoat assesses coating condition, corrosion and wear on your equipment, on site: we record the defects, trace them back to their causes and rank what needs fixing first. You receive written recommendations and, where needed, a specification for the coating or cold repair system, ready before your next shutdown.
When a coating fails early or the same corrosion comes back after every repair, the question is less what to apply than why the last system did not hold. Induscoat surveys the equipment, takes measurements to standard methods and ties each defect to a cause: specification, surface preparation, application or service conditions. You get a ranked set of corrective actions and, where needed, a specification an applicator can be held to. The assessment stays within what a coatings and cold repair applicator can judge; regulatory inspection and cathodic protection design remain with their own specialists.
What the assessment covers
The service answers one precise question: why this coating or this metal is degrading, and what to do about it, in what order. We look at the equipment where a coatings and cold repair applicator can act:
- Interiors of tanks, process vessels and concrete containment basins.
- Structural steel, piping and supports exposed outdoors or to plant atmospheres.
- Pumps, valves, chutes, hoppers and cyclones attacked by erosion, abrasion or cavitation.
- Heat exchanger water boxes, tube sheets and channel covers.
On that equipment we identify coating defects (blistering, delamination, cracking, under-film rusting, holidays) and the forms of corrosion involved: uniform, pitting, crevice, galvanic, under insulation or microbial. Our guide to the types of industrial corrosion explains how to recognize each one.
What it does not include: regulatory inspection of pressure vessels, piping and tanks under API 510, API 570 or API 653 stays with the certified inspector, and a fitness-for-service assessment with the engineer. Cathodic protection design belongs to the specialist. Our report can feed their review; it does not replace it.
From defect to cause: the method
Recoating with the same system, the same preparation and the same conditions gives the same result. The assessment is there to prevent that. We start from what we see, then sort each finding into one of four families of causes:
- Specification: a system poorly matched to the actual exposure, an underestimated corrosivity category, too little specified thickness (choosing a system under ISO 12944).
- Surface preparation: cleanliness grade or profile not reached, soluble salts left on the steel, mill scale or flash rust under the coat (SSPC-SP10 / NACE No. 2 preparation).
- Application: film thickness out of range, recoat window missed, condensation, incomplete cure in the cold.
- Service: chemistry, temperature or mechanical stress beyond what the system tolerates, impact, interaction with cathodic protection.
Where a defect sits already narrows it down: widespread delamination tells a different story from blistering confined to the liquid line, or from rust concentrated on edges and welds. Our guide to coating failure analysis walks through these readings, defect by defect.
How an assessment runs
- Information gathering before the visit: drawings, equipment history, original specification, available inspection reports, fluid, temperature and service cycles.
- Site visit: visual and photographic survey, with the plant running for external surfaces; for an interior, during a shutdown, under your permit system, after lockout and isolation by your crew.
- Measurements: dry film thickness, adhesion at agreed locations, soluble salts, holiday detection, condition of the steel under disbonded areas.
- Analysis: each finding tied to a cause, its severity, its likely rate of progression and the consequence of doing nothing.
- Written report: illustrated findings, causes, priorities and corrective options.
- Review with your maintenance and reliability teams, then, if you wish, a detailed specification and a quote for the work.
Written recommendations and specification
Recommendations are ranked by priority: first what threatens containment or safety, then what is progressing fast, then what can wait for a more convenient shutdown. For each area we compare the realistic options: spot repair, overcoating the existing system, full removal (maintenance painting of steel structures) or cold rebuilding with metal- or ceramic-filled epoxy.
Once a correction is chosen, the specification sets what an applicator has to deliver:
- Target surface preparation grade and profile, soluble salt limit per the data sheet.
- Generic system type (resin, filler, number of coats) and thicknesses per the manufacturer's data sheet.
- Application conditions: steel temperature, margin above the dew point, humidity, recoat and cure windows.
- Hold points, acceptance tests and documents to hand over.
Induscoat distributes coating and repair systems. When the specification selects one, the document names it and also states the generic requirements needed to compare other offers.
Standards the report refers to
Findings and measurements are expressed to standard methods, so the report can be read by your inspector, your engineer or another applicator:
- ISO 4628: evaluation of coating degradation (blistering, rusting, cracking, flaking).
- ISO 19840 and SSPC-PA 2: dry film thickness measurement.
- ISO 4624 and ASTM D4541: pull-off adhesion; ASTM D3359: tape adhesion by knife cut.
- ISO 8502-6 and ISO 8502-9: sampling and measurement of soluble salts.
- NACE SP0188: holiday testing of coatings on metal.
- ISO 8501-1: target preparation grades; ISO 12944-2 and ISO 12944-5: corrosivity categories and paint systems.
For pressure piping or vessels, the report defers to the inspection program: our article on API 570 and repair decisions explains where the applicator's role stops.
Planning around your shutdowns
In Quebec and Ontario, major coating work is concentrated on the spring shutdown and the holiday shutdown in winter. The right time for an assessment is before that: external surfaces can be assessed with the plant running, and the inside of a tank or vessel is assessed during one shutdown to prepare the next.
An early assessment leaves time to get the specification approved, order materials and plan access, heating or dehumidification. Done the day before, it often comes down to repeating the system that already failed. When weighing options, cost over the service life matters more than the price of the first job (coating total cost of ownership).
When this service is not the right answer
- You need a regulatory inspection or a fitness-for-service assessment: that is the work of the certified inspector and the engineer.
- The question is about cathodic protection, structural design or plant-wide asset management: other specialists are better placed.
- The cause is known and the work is clear: go straight to our protective coatings or maintenance and rehabilitation services.
Send photos, a description of the service and the equipment history through the quote request; we will tell you whether an assessment is needed or whether the repair can be priced right away.
Typical Applications
- Coating condition surveys on tanks, vessels and basins
- Root-cause analysis of premature coating failures
- Erosion, abrasion and cavitation assessment on pumps, chutes and cyclones
- Coating and cold repair specifications
Typical Problems We Solve
- Linings that blister, disbond or rust through well before their expected service life
- Recoating with the original system after a failure, without knowing why it failed
- Corrosion form misidentified (pitting, crevice, galvanic, under insulation)
- Repair work scoped at the last minute before the shutdown, with no specification
What You Receive
- Illustrated report: findings, measurements and causes
- Priority ranking: containment and safety first, then fast-progressing damage
- Corrective options per area: spot repair, overcoat, full removal or cold rebuild
- Coating or repair specification with hold points and acceptance tests
Timeline
Agreed in the proposal, based on the equipment, access and whether interiors can only be seen during a shutdown.
Standards & Certifications
- ISO 4628 — evaluation of coating degradation
- ISO 19840 / SSPC-PA 2 — dry film thickness measurement
- ISO 4624 / ASTM D4541 — pull-off adhesion testing
- ISO 12944-2 / ISO 12944-5 — corrosivity categories and protective paint systems
Industries We Serve
- Mining — leach tanks, thickeners, slurry pumps and chutes
- Chemical & Petrochemical — tank linings, containment basins, process vessels
- Energy — condenser water boxes, cooling water piping, structural steel
- Steel & Metallurgy — steel structures and piping exposed to plant atmospheres
Service FAQ
Does the assessment replace an API 510, 570 or 653 inspection?
No. Regulatory inspection of pressure vessels, piping and tanks is carried out by the certified inspector, and remaining-strength calculations by the engineer. Our assessment covers the coating, the corrosion mechanism and the repair options; the report is written so that they can use it.
Do you recommend the products you distribute?
Yes, when they suit the service, and the report says so openly. To keep the choice open, the specification lists what any product has to meet: preparation grade, resin and filler type, thickness range from the data sheet, application conditions and acceptance tests. Another supplier's product can then be assessed against the same list.
Can interiors be assessed while the plant is running?
External surfaces, yes. Tank and vessel interiors are assessed during a shutdown, after draining, cleaning, lockout and isolation by your crew, under your permit system. That is why we often suggest using one shutdown to assess and the next one to repair, with the specification and materials ready in between.
Technical guides
- Coating failure analysis: diagnosing coating defects
- Types of industrial corrosion: recognize, diagnose, prevent
- Choosing a coating system under ISO 12944
- SSPC-SP10 / NACE No. 2 surface preparation guide
- Maintenance painting: touch-up, overcoat or full removal
- Coating life cycle cost and total cost of ownership