Dry Film Thickness

Measurements:
How Many Are Enough?
A Close Look at Four Major
International Standards
and Requirements

Above: Photo courtesy of Q-Lab Corporation

22

By Rob Francis, Aurecon Australia Pty Ltd

ry film thickness (DFT)
is probably the single
most important
measurement made
during inspection or
quality control of
protective coating
application. Even the
most basic protective coating
specification will inevitably require the
DFT to be measured. It is considered to
be the most important factor
determining the durability of a coating
system. The thickness of each coating
layer in a system and the total system
DFT will have to be measured and
recorded to show that the specified
system will meet the desired durability.
The number of measurements that will
be made is important to all parties
involved in coating works. The
contractor and inspector obviously
JPCL December 2009

need to know how many measurements to make as part of their

inspection or QA work. But the owner
and specifier also need to be aware of
such requirements because they will
greatly influence the cost and time
required for inspection. This article
looks at the requirements regarding the
number of measurements that have to
be made as described in recent DFT
standards. There are many other
important aspects of DFT
measurement, including adjustment
and calibration of gauges and effect of
surface profile on thickness
measurements, but this article
concentrates on the required number of
measurements.

Standards Used for DFT Measurement

Four main standards used for DFT
testing are discussed in this article.
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 SSPC-PA 2 (Measurement of dry

coating thickness with magnetic gages)
Australian Standard AS 3894.3 (Site
testing of protective coatings, Method
3: Determination of dry film thickness)
International Standard ISO 19840
(Paints and varnishesCorrosion
protection of steel structures by
protective paint systems
Measurement of, and acceptance
criteria for, the thickness of dry films on
rough surfaces)
Although not strictly speaking a
standard, the recent International
Maritime Organization (IMO) resolution
MSC 215(88) on Performance
Standards for Protective Coatings
(PSPC), which addresses coating
quality for ships, especially of ballast
tanks.1 This document has certain
requirements regarding coating
thickness, which are discussed with the
above three standards.
One immediate problem that will
arise when inspectors attempt to
compare different standards is the

different terminology used for identical

processes. For the sake of consistency,
the following terms are used in this
paper.
Gauge measurement: This is a single
measurement obtained by the
instrument at a point as defined in
SSPC-PA 2.
Spot measurement: This is the
recorded measurement at a point. In
SSPC-PA 2, this measurement is the
average of three measurements taken
in a four-centimeter (1.5-inch) circle.
When working to SSPC-PA 2, three
gauge measurements must be taken
and averaged for each recorded spot
measurement. In the other standards,
only a single gauge measurement is
required, and it is the recorded spot
measurement, termed point reading in
AS 3894.3 and individual reading in
ISO 19840. The term gauge reading is
used in PSPC, although not specifically
defined. PSPC does require the type of
gauge and calibration to be in
accordance with SSPC-PA 2, but does

Rob Francis is a metallurgist and a corrosion and

coatings specialist with engineering consulting company
Aurecon (formerly Connell Wagner) in its Materials
Technology Group in Melbourne. He has over 30 years
experience in metals and materials, especially regarding
protective coatings. Dr. Francis has a Ph.D. in corrosion
science from the Corrosion and Protection Centre at
UMIST, Manchester, UK. He is an Australasian Corrosion
Association Corrosion Technologist and Coating
Inspector, a NACE Certified Coating Inspector and accredited trainer. He is
chairman of Australian Standards committee which produces AS/NZS 2312,
Guide to protection of structural steel against atmospheric corrosion by use of
protective coatings. He edited a book on inorganic zinc silicate coatings, which
was published in 1999.
He can be contacted at [email protected].
www.paintsquare.com

JPCL December 2009

not specifically require the three

measurements to be averaged. We
assume a single measurement is
sufficient for PSPC.
Specified dry film thickness: the term
used in SSPC-PA 2 and AS 3894.3 to
designate the DFT specified for each
coat or for the whole paint system. In
ISO 19840 and PSPC, the term used is
nominal dry film thickness.
For consistency in comparisons of
area in this article, square meters are
used to describe area measures. To
convert square meters (sq m) to
square feet (sq ft), multiply sq m by 10:
1 sq m ~ 10 sq ft. Other metric units
are converted to imperial units.
The methods are described below.
Table 1 (p. 24) summarizes the total
number of spot measurements for
given areas to be tested according to
the various standards.
SSPC-PA 2 Method
The best known scheme for
determining the number of DFT
measurements is the one described in
SSPC-PA 2. In brief, reference areas of
about 10 sq m need to be identified.
The number of reference areas
depends on the overall total area.
Within each reference area, five
separate spot measurements are
taken, arbitrarily spaced over each
reference area.
For structures not exceeding 30 sq m,
each 10-square-meter area must be
measured.
For structures not exceeding 100 sq
m, three 10-square-meter areas are
arbitrarily selected and measured.
For structures greater than 100 sq m,
three 10-square-meter areas within the
23

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Measuring DFT
Table 1: Number of Spot DFT Readings Required by Different Standards for Flat Areas
Total Area (Sq M)* SSPC-PA 2
AS 3894.3
to be tested
Total number of
Recommended
spot measurements number of spot
measurements

ISO 19840
Minimum number of
spot measurements

PSPC
Minimum number of
spot measurements

<1

13

39

10

310

930

15

12

1020

10

10

20

24

2030

15

15

20

46

30100

15

15

30

620

>100

15 plus 5 per each

additional 100
square meters

15 plus 5 per each 30 plus 10 for each

additional 100
additional 100
square meters
square meters

1 for each 5
square meters

*1 sq m ~ 10 sq ft

first 100 sq m are measured, followed

by one 10-square-meter area for each
additional 100 sq m.
In the main part of the standard,
SSPC-PA 2 does not distinguish
between flat areas and other
geometries such as beams that require
DFT measurement. If the specification
requirement is simply to carry out the
number of tests as specified by SSPCPA 2, then the inspector would be
expected to estimate the total area and
use the inspection plan described
above. However, an informative
appendix (a major addition to the 2004
revision of this standard) presents
testing protocols for measuring DFT on
beams and girders and other shapes
and sizes.2 A complete description of
the protocols is outside the scope of
this paper but the more complex
shapes require many more than five
measurements per 10 sq m. Actual
estimating of the required protocol is
rather complex. Some of the decisions
that have to be established by the
inspector to determine the number of
measurements are listed below.
The number of spot measurements at
each position on the beam depends on
the height of the beam. Spot

24

measurements are required on each of

eight surfaces for beams less than 0.91
meters (36 in.) in height, but an extra
two are required on the web for higher
beams.
The procedure requires
measurements to be taken on the toes
where possible. The standard states
contracting parties may choose not to
measure at this location if the flange
thickness is less than 25 mm (1 in.).
The standard also notes that
measurement on the toes may not be
practical on rolled beams, presumably
because of the small size or rolled
curve.
The standard gives the option of
carrying out a full DFT determination
of a beam, which is a very thorough
inspection, or a sample DFT
determination with fewer measurements required. For a full
determination, the beam is divided into
five equal sections or surfaces, and the
required number of measurements
(between 8 and 14 depending on
height and if the toe is measured) are
made on each surface. For sample
determination, only 2 or 3 regions are
measured per beam, depending on
length.
JPCL December 2009

Given the complexity of these

supplementary methods, and the fact
that it is not a mandatory part of the
standard, the inspector would probably
benefit by following the better-known 5
readings per 10 square meters
method, unless the 2004 advisory
appendix is specifically named.
Australian Standard
AS 3894.3 Method
The method given in AS 3894.3 for
large areas is nearly identical to the
SSPC-PA 2 requirement, although spot
measurements are required to be
evenly spaced throughout rather than
arbitrarily spaced, as required by the
SSPC standard. The subtle difference
between these two requirements could
be important in a legal sense, but
unlikely to be given in-depth
consideration by the inspector. In
AS 3894.3, for flat areas less than 10
sq m, a minimum of three spot
measurements per square meter are
required.
AS 3894.3 has specific schemes for
measuring DFT on beams and
pipelines, generally a certain number of
measurements per meter length. Unlike
SSPC-PA 2, this is a normative part of
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Measuring DFT

Table 2: Summary of Test Requirements for 500 Square Meters of Area According to Method*
Method

Number of spot
measurements in
first 100 sq m area

Number of
readings in each
subsequent 100
sq m area

Total number
of spot
measurements
in 500 sq m

Average
number of
readings per
100 sq m

Percentage
of area
tested

SSPC-PA 2

15

35

14%

AS 3894.3

15

35

14%

ISO 19840

30

10

70

14

100%

PSPC flat

20

20

100

20

100%

*1 sq m ~ 10 sq ft

the Australian standard and so is

mandatory. For beams and columns, 1
measurement is required on each flat
face less than 300 mm (12 in.) in width,
for each linear meter (39 in.). For
beams of less than 300 mm in height,
this would mean 8 measurements per
meter, and 10 measurements per
meter (an extra 2 on the web) for
beams greater than 300 mm in height.
However, the standard requires the
inspector to decide if the work is a
large surface area, when the 5
measurements per 10 square meters
scheme applies, or a small surface
area, when this alternative scheme
applies. AS 3894.3 does not give
guidance on deciding what is large and
what is small. This understanding of
large vs. small jobs would have to be
clarified by the parties before the work
started.
International Standard
ISO 19840 Method
The sampling plan in ISO 19840 differs
from the two standards discussed
above. If the structure is divided into
individual inspection areas, as defined
in ISO 12944 Part 73 and Part 84, then
these areas are tested. Inspection
areas are separate areas on the
structure used to establish a minimum
acceptable standard for the work, and
are typical areas of the structure where

26

tests are carried out to ensure

conformance with the specification. If
such areas are not identified, then the
whole structure is considered as the
inspection area. In the latter case,
requirements for flat areas are as
follows.
5 spot measurements in the first
square meter
10 spot measurements for 1 to 3 sq m
15 spot measurements for 3 to 10 sq m
20 spot measurements for 10 to 30
sq m
30 spot measurements for 30 to 100
sq m
10 spot measurements for each
additional 100 sq m
The standard notes that the above
are the minimum number of
measurements to be made. It can be
seen that about twice as many
measurements per unit area are
required as for SSPC-PA 2 and AS
3894.3.
For beams or pipes, ISO 19840
requires that the number of
measurements required per linear
meter is numerically the same as the
equivalent area. For example, a
minimum of 30 measurements is
required for a 30- to 100-meter length
of section. Surprisingly, the standard
does not mention any requirement for
measurements on each of the eight
faces of a beam. The ISO standard
JPCL December 2009

does allow for an increased number of

measurements to be made on areas
having difficult configurations, such as
stiffeners, brackets, and supports. The
standard also provides guidance for the
number of measurements that can be
repeated if an individual measurement
is not within specification.
International Maritime
Organization PSPC Method
For flat surface areas, PSPC has a
requirement of one gauge
measurement per 5 sq m. This
requirement holds regardless of total
area. As this standard is designed for
ballast tanks and double-sided skin
spaces of bulk carriers, it is unlikely that
this requirement will be widely
employed. However, if the standard will
be used for other parts of a ship, for
external hull painting, for example, then
this clause would be important.
PSPC does not have a specific
protocol for beams or columns because
it is designed for ballast tanks. It
requires one set of gauge
measurements at 2- to 3-meter (6.5- to
10-foot) intervals along longitudinal and
transverse stiffener members and
primary support members. A set is
defined in the standard, and includes at
least one measurement on each face.
There are special requirements for
measurements close to edges, around
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openings, and other complex items.

For complex areas (such as large
brackets of primary support members),
five gauge measurements per square
meter are required.

Obligation Level

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Examples of the Use of Each Standard

To see the differences between the use
of the standards in practice, it is worth
having a look at the measurement
requirements of two sample areas, a
smaller 500-square-meter flat area,
and a larger ships ballast tank. Table
2 (p. 26) summarizes the requirements
for the four standards.
Example for a Smaller Flat Area
The first example looks at the
requirements for testing a flat area of 500
sq m, such as the side of a ship or the
outside of a tank 16 meters (52 feet) in
diameter and 10 meters (33 feet) high. If
the work was carried out to the SSPC or
Australian Standard method, the area
would need to be divided into 5 areas of
100 sq m each. Within the first 100 sq m,
three test areas of approximately 10 sq m
would be identified, and 5 measurements
made in each. For each additional 100
square meter area, one 10-square-meter
area would identified, and five measurements would be made in each. Figure 1
(p. 28) shows a typical inspection plan for
such work. Assuming that each 10square-meter region is thoroughly tested,
JPCL December 2009

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27

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successfully sued an inspection

company for carrying out more
measurements than required by the
standard when the job fell behind
schedule.
In the Australian Standard, the
number of measurements specified is
simply advisory: the specified number
of measurements should be carried
out. This language implies that
inspectors can carry out more or fewer
measurements than described without
any approval from the contractor or
specifier.
For the ISO standard, the number of
measurements required is the minimum
number, which implies that inspectors
may carry out more (but not fewer)
without approval from other parties. In
fact, the standard specifically requires
that the number shall be increased for
inspection areas having difficult

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Each standard also has significant

differences in its level of obligation for
the inspector to follow the given
measurement procedure. Actual
interpretation of requirements could
require legal opinion, but the
differences appear to be as follows:
The number of measurements given
in SSPC-PA 2 shall be carried out,
unless contracting parties agree to a
greater number or the specification
allows a different number of
measurements. That is, the number
given in the standard is a mandatory
requirement unless otherwise specified
or agreed. It is interesting to note that,
in at least one case5, a contractor

configuration.
For the IMO PSPC, the requirement
is different again in that the given
number of measurements are to be
taken. The word shall is not used,
which is the term normally employed to
denote a mandatory requirement in
such a document. The document does
say that additional spot checks are to
be taken to verify coating thickness for
any area considered by the coating
inspector. This language implies that
the number of measurements specified
is a minimum, and the inspector can
take more if considered necessary
without approval from other parties.

Measuring DFT

30%of the first 100 sq m of area is

tested, but only 10% of each subsequent
region. In all, about 14% of the area is
tested using these methods.
If the work were to be carried out to
ISO 19840, we again would divide it up
into 5 regions of 100 sq m. But in this
case, we would carry out a minimum of
30 measurements in the first 100square-meter area, and 10 measurements in each additional 100-squaremeter-area. As well as having more
measurements than the above
standards, the ISO 19840 measurements can be spread over the entire
area, rather than concentrated in 10square-meter areas (Fig. 2). The
measurements could concentrate on
edges, weld regions or other areas
where low thickness is likely.
The PSPC document is not designed
for large flat areas. However, if it were
specified for such work, the area would
not be divided up into reference areas
and it would be simply a matter of one
making one measurement for every five
sq m. As with the ISO standard, the
measurements are spread out over the
entire area, giving 100% coverage,
although the standard does specifically
require extra measurements close to
boundaries. A possible scheme for
testing to PSPC on for flat areas is given
in Fig. 3.
The example shows that for a
relatively small area, the number of
measurements required by each of the
standards is significantly different, with
PSPC requiring about 3 times as many
measurements as SSPC-PA 2 or AS
3894.3.
Example for a Larger Area
It is also worth looking at the testing
requirements for a much larger job, say
300,000 sq m of ballast tanks. In this
28

case, we will also look at the actual

number of individual measurements
because this will have a significant effect
on timing and costs.
If measurements were carried out in
accordance with SSPC-PA 2 and AS
3894.3, the area would be divided into
approximately 3,000 areas of 100 sq m
each. In this case, the extra few
measurements for the first 100 sq m

become of little consequence. Each 100

sq m would have a 10-square-meter
area tested with 5 spot measurements.
This gives a total of 15,000
measurements. For SSPC-PA 2, each
spot measurement is an average of
three gauge measurements, so the total
number of gauge measurements is
45,000. For the other standards, only a
single gauge measurement is required

Fig. 1: A suggested inspection plan according to SSPC-PA 2 or AS 3894.3

for 500 square meters of flat surface area. Figures 15 courtesy of the author.

Fig. 2: A suggested inspection plan according to ISO 19840

for 500 square meters of flat surface area

Fig. 3: A suggested inspection plan according to PSPC for 500 square meters
of flat surface area

JPCL December 2009

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Table 3: DFT Measurements Required for 300,000 Square Meters of Ballast Tanks*
Measurement Type

SSPC-PA 2

AS 3894.3

ISO 19840

PSPC

Number of spot measurements

15,000

15,000

30,000

300,000

Number of gauge readings

45,000

15,000

30,000

300,000

*1 sq m ~ 10 sq ft

It could be argued that the SSPC and

Australian Standard methods do not
provide for adequate testing of the
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JPCL December 2009

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Discussion of the Testing

Requirements

coating, certainly of the smaller area.

An owner would probably expect many
more than 35 measurements to be
taken over a 500-square-meter
structure, even if he or she may be
satisfied with 15,000 for ship ballast
tanks. On the other hand, perhaps the
PSPC approach is the correct one.
With modern electronic gauges with
statistical functions and the ability to
take perhaps one measurement per
second, it should be possible to take
many more measurements than the
SSPC requirement, which was
developed when permanent magnet
mechanical gauges only were used.
The number of measurements required
by the PSPC standard would appear to
provide the owner with assurance that
the coatings paid for have in fact been
applied to the specified thickness. But
then, perhaps even the one
measurement per square meter
required by this standard is not
sufficient to satisfy a pedantic inspector
or owner who insists that the work
must be within specification and that
there must not be any areas of
insufficient thickness. A significant
variation in DFT is possible over a
square meter, and one measurement
may not identify this.
While a complete and accurate
picture of the spread of DFT results
may be desirable, the costs and delays
must be considered if thousands of
measurements are required. As
mentioned above, one author6

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for each spot measurement.

ISO 19840 requires roughly 10
measurements per 100 sq m and, again
ignoring the first 100 sq m, gives a total
of 30,000 measurements.
PSPC is designed for ballast tanks
but has a number of protocols for
testing, depending on whether flat
areas, stiffeners, regions around
openings, etc., are tested. This complex
scheme makes it hard to estimate the
required number of measurements. It
requires one measurement for every five
sq m of flat areas, through to 5
measurements for every square meter
in complex areas. On average, this
gives one measurement per square
meter. Interestingly, one author6
calculates an identical number for a very
large crude carrier with a total ballast
tank area of 300,000 sq m, so this figure
seems a reasonable estimate for
working to this standard. That is, one
measurement per square meter gives a
total of 300,000 measurements. Table 3
summarizes these results. The
differences between the standards are
much greater with the large surface
area, with PSPC requiring 20 times as
many measurements as SSPC-PA 2 or
AS 3894.3 and ten times as many as
ISO 19840.

Measuring DFT

considered that a typical very

large crude carrier would require
making 300,000 DFT
measurements for coating work
of ballast tanks. He noted that
this would require 450 A4 sheets
of paper at 650 measurements
per page for the records if a
hard copy was required.
But in addition to the
observations in Reference 6, it
should be noted that a rate of
one measurement per second, a
typical figure for modern
electronic gauges, would require
83 person-hours or three-andhalf days to carry out the work,
not allowing for any stops,
rework, or repeat
measurements. Even carrying
out the work to SSPC-PA 2
would require 45,000
measurements (3 gauge
measurements per spot
measurement) and would take
over 12 person-hours, assuming
the conversion of individual
measurements to spot
measurements does not cause
delays.
It is not known whether owners and
ship builders are aware of the required
investment in time and money to meet
the latest standards. Because painting
is inevitably one of the final activities in
construction, such a requirement is
certainly going to cause headaches
and arguments.
The time and monetary expense
may be justified if it can be guaranteed
that the coating system will provide the
desired protection. In practice
however, it is unlikely that even a
substantial number of measurements
will detect all regions that may break
down prematurely. Experience shows

30

in.) of an edge because of the

way an edge distorts the
magnetic field. But even modern
electronic gauges, with their
reduced magnetic fields, can
measure within only 5
millimeters (0.2 in.) or so of an
edge. PSPC recognizes this
problem with edges and requires
that measurements in ballast
tanks be taken as close as
possible to tank boundaries, but
not further than 15 mm (0.6 in.)
Fig. 4: Coating breakdown at an edge
from edges.
But measurements within 15
mm, or even 5 mm, will not
necessarily locate areas of
weakness at edges and corners.
So it is not possible to measure
thickness in this critical area,
and, regardless of the number of
measurements taken, low
measurements in such areas will
escape detection and the areas
will break down well before the
flat regions.
In the case of difficult-to-coat
Fig. 5: Difficult-to-access regions are difficult to paint,
regions, such as the inner
and DFT is difficult to measure on them.
pockets in Fig. 5, it is hard, if not
impossible, for the painter to
position the spray gun in such areas.
that problems with low coating
Paint coverage will at best be very
thickness and premature breakdown
uneven. Even brushing or rolling can
are most likely to arise in two regions:
be difficult. In addition, an inspector
first, at welds and edges of beams and
will have trouble taking thickness
sections, and, second, in difficult-tomeasurements because of the limited
coat regions. In the former, the usual
access, especially if using an integral
cause of premature breakdown (Fig. 4)
probe gauge. It is therefore highly
is considered to be that the paint pulls
probable that, not only will such
away from the edge as it cures,
regions have a DFT well outside the
lowering the thickness, although other
specification, but also that the
factors may be important, such as
inspector will not be able to measure
simply less paint applied, mechanical
DFT there.
damage, or lack of adhesion due to
The observations above were
minimal profile on the edge.
substantiated by a presentation at a
Older permanent magnetic gauges
recent marine corrosion conference.7
could measure only within 25 mm (1
JPCL December 2009

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AIR ON THE
SIDE OF SAFETY

References
1. T. Lohmann, Implementing the IMO
PSPC for Ballast Water Tanks,
JPCL, February 2009, pp. 12-20.
2. R. Weaver, Whats New with PA 2,
JPCL, December 2004, pp. 41-47.
3. ISO 12944-7, Paints and
varnishesCorrosion protection of
steel structures by protective paint
systemsPart 7: Execution and
supervision of paint work.
4. ISO 12944-8, Paints and
varnishesCorrosion protection of
steel structures by protective paint
systemsPart 8: Development of
specifications for new work and
maintenance.
5. M. Schilling, Overzealous Paint
Inspection Causes Scheduling
Delays, JPCL, December 2003,
p. 14.
6. J F. Fletcher, Electronic Inspection
Data Management for Salt Water
Ballast Tanks, Marine Coatings
Conference 2008, Hamburg,
Germany, September 2425, 2008.
7. B. Goldie, Marine Coatings under
the Regulatory Spotlight, JPCL,
February 2008, pp. 48-52.

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JPCL

JPCL December 2009

31

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Conclusions
The testing protocols of the various
DFT testing standards used around the
world are significantly different from
one another and have a range of
requirements regarding both sampling
and the number of measurements that
have to be taken. Inspectors need to
be aware of these requirements to
ensure that the specification has been

met.
Owners and specifiers need to be
aware that some of the standards may
not result in a sufficient level of testing
necessary to provide the required
assurance that the specified film
thickness has been applied over the
entire area. On the other hand,
specifiers and owners need to be
aware that the number of
measurements by other standards,
while providing better assurance
regarding coating thickness, may
cause significant delays and costs if
carried out by the book.

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With regard to ballast tank coatings,

the following were evident among the
findings.
Cut edges tend to fail prematurely.
Welds tend to fail earlier than flat
surfaces.
Flat areas are generally the last to
fail by corrosion.
A program requiring thousands of
DFT measurements during coating
work is not going to guarantee that the
coating system will provide the desired
durability. In fact, ship owners may be
lulled into a false sense of security by
believing that such thorough inspection
using the latest computerized thickness
gauges is covering the entire painted
area, when, in fact, the critical regions
are not being measured and cannot be
inspected, at least by film thickness
measurements alone.
It must be recognized that PSPC
does not rely on DFT measurements
alone to ensure durability; factors such
as selection of quality coating systems,
edge grinding, stripe coats, and high
standards of surface preparation are all
part of the new IMO requirements.
Coating durability in general should
noticeably improve as a result of these
initiatives. The concern is that such a
large number of measurements with its
associated costs and delays is not
providing durability improvement
commensurate with its cost.