Coating Inspection and Analysis
Confirm your coatings are protecting your assets — or find out why one has failed.
Coating Inspection and Failure Analysis
Whether your assets are construction sites, fabrication yards, process plants, shipyards, or energy infrastructure, you need to be certain that the coatings protecting them are actually doing their job. Coating failure is rarely cosmetic — it leads to corrosion, structural repair, equipment shutdown, and disputed contracts.
Clearscope's coating inspection and analysis service covers the in-service and forensic side of coating work. We inspect applied coatings to confirm they meet specification and continue to perform, and we investigate failures to identify why a coating system has not lasted — across steel, stainless, aluminium, concrete, brick, and plastic substrates.
The work supports asset owners, facility managers, contractors, specifiers, and insurers — anyone who needs an independent, evidence-based view of coating condition or failure cause.
Why Use Coating Inspection and Analysis
Three outcomes the service is built to deliver.
Confirm Coatings Are Doing Their Job
Independent assessment of applied coatings across steel, stainless, aluminium, concrete, and composite substrates — confirming conformity, compatibility, and performance against the original specification.
Avoid Repair Costs and Downtime
Catch the preventable failures — concrete decay, undercut corrosion, adhesion loss, blistering — before they progress into structural repair, equipment removal, or shutdown.
Find the Cause and Stop It Recurring
Forensic root-cause investigation when a coating has already failed. The same failure tends to repeat across an asset or a portfolio unless the cause is identified and designed out.
What We Provide
A consolidated inspection, testing, and analysis service — selected and combined based on what the question actually is.
Damage Assessment & Defect Mapping
Visual condition surveys with photographic evidence and coating degradation graded to ISO 4628 rating scales — blistering, rusting, cracking, flaking, and chalking.
Failure Root-Cause Investigation
Forensic analysis of why a coating system has failed — substrate, surface preparation, application, specification mismatch, or end of design life.
Coating Thickness Measurement
Wet-film and dry-film thickness testing to confirm the system actually applied matches the specification — for sign-off or for failure investigation.
Surface Contamination Testing
Soluble salts, chlorides, dust, and oil testing to ISO 8502 — the hidden contamination that sits behind most premature coating failures.
Surface Preparation Verification
Cleanliness grade and surface profile assessment before coating application — getting the substrate right is the single biggest determinant of coating life.
Periodic In-Service Inspection
Scheduled condition surveys for asset owners — degradation tracked over time, maintenance prioritised, remaining-life estimates against the original durability grade.
Specification & Conformity Review
Independent review of coating specifications, product data sheets, and applicator method statements against the actual service environment — before work starts, not after.
Lab Test Programme Coordination
Hardness, gloss, colour stability, and chemical resistance testing through accredited laboratories — selected, coordinated, and interpreted in plain language.
Expert Reports for Disputes & Claims
Independent, evidence-based technical reports for contractual disputes, insurance claims, and litigation — built to withstand applicator pushback and cross-examination.
Substrates We Work Across
Coating performance is substrate-dependent. The inspection approach changes with what's underneath the paint.
Carbon & Structural Steel
Fabricated steel, bridges, tanks, and offshore structures — the most common substrate and the most demanding when corrosion protection fails.
Stainless Steel & Aluminium
Architectural cladding, process equipment, and marine fittings. Coating failure here often points to pre-treatment or chemistry mismatch rather than application defects.
Concrete & Masonry
Floors, tanks, façades, and water-retaining structures. Coating performance depends on substrate moisture, surface absorbency, and primer selection.
Plastics & Composites
GRP, FRP, and engineering plastics in chemical, marine, and renewables sectors — substrate flex and adhesion challenges need specialist systems and inspection.
Independent, evidence-based coating inspection and analysis — built to stand up to applicator pushback, contractual dispute, and insurance scrutiny.
Common Questions
What do coating inspectors do?
Coating inspectors verify that protective coatings have been applied correctly and continue to perform — checking surface preparation, dry film thickness, adhesion, and contamination at every stage from substrate to finished coat. On in-service coatings, the same inspectors grade degradation, identify failure causes, and document the evidence behind any remediation decision.
What is the standard for coating inspection?
There isn't a single standard — coating inspection draws on a family. ISO 12944 governs corrosion protection by paint systems on steel. ISO 19840 covers dry film thickness measurement on rough surfaces. ISO 8501 to 8503 cover surface preparation, contamination, and profile. ISO 4628 grades degradation in service. The right combination depends on substrate, environment, and project specification.
What is a certified coatings inspector?
A coatings inspector qualified through a recognised scheme — typically ICORR (Institute of Corrosion), NACE / AMPP Coating Inspector Program, or FROSIO. Certification confirms formal training in coating chemistry, surface preparation, defect identification, and standards application. Pat at Clearscope holds CSWIP and PCN qualifications across the related inspection disciplines.
What is the 80/20 rule for coating?
A measurement convention used with ISO 19840. Individual dry film thickness readings between 80% of the nominal DFT and the specified maximum are acceptable, provided fewer than 20% of the total readings fall below the nominal value. It's the practical bridge between an absolute specification and the variability of real-world application.
Coating failure or condition survey?
Talk to us about coating failure investigation, in-service condition surveys, and independent expert reporting.