Secondary Containment Coating Systems for Industrial Contractors

Article 05 of 24

Existing-Condition Surveys, Testing, and Documentation

A disciplined existing-condition survey establishes what was present before preparation began, identifies risks, defines needed testing, and protects every responsible party from relying on assumptions.

Learning Objectives

After completing this article, you should be able to:

• Plan a practical containment-area condition survey
• Separate visual observations from test results and professional conclusions
• Identify common concrete, steel, lining, and detail defects
• Select appropriate testing with the responsible parties
• Create useful photographs, drawings, notes, and test records
• Recognize conditions requiring written direction before work proceeds

Survey Before Preparation Changes the Evidence

Abrasive blasting, grinding, scarifying, demolition, pressure washing, and coating removal permanently change the work area. After preparation begins, it may be impossible to prove where cracks, stains, existing repairs, delamination, corrosion, leakage, or coating failure were originally located.

The existing-condition survey should therefore be completed, reviewed, and documented before destructive work begins. It becomes the baseline against which discoveries, repairs, changes, and final results can be evaluated.

Observation, Testing, and Evaluation Are Different

Contractors should distinguish among these activities in their reports. “A 1/8-inch-wide crack was observed” is an observation. “The crack is structurally harmless” is a conclusion that may require engineering evaluation.

Begin With Documents and Interviews

Before entering the containment area, request available information:

• Original drawings and containment details
• Previous coating or lining specifications
• Product data sheets and application records
• Previous inspection and testing reports
• Repair and maintenance history
• Spill, leakage, and chemical-exposure history
• Known moisture, drainage, or groundwater problems
• Cleaning and decontamination procedures
• Changes in stored chemicals or operating conditions
• Areas known to require frequent repair

Operators and maintenance personnel often know where liquid collects, which joints leak, which repairs repeatedly fail, and which equipment blocks access. Their field knowledge should be documented and compared with the physical survey.

Establish a Survey Grid

Large containment areas should be divided into identifiable sections. Use column lines, tank numbers, wall designations, grid coordinates, room numbers, or measured distances from fixed reference points.

A practical survey drawing should identify:

• North or another fixed orientation
• Floors, walls, curbs, trenches, and sumps
• Tanks, equipment, piping, columns, and supports
• Drains, penetrations, joints, and access points
• Defect and test locations
• Areas that could not be accessed or inspected

Every photograph, test result, and repair quantity should be traceable to a location on the survey drawing.

Concrete Survey Items

• Crack location, length, apparent width, pattern, and displacement
• Control, construction, isolation, and expansion joints
• Spalls, delamination, scaling, erosion, and exposed aggregate
• Honeycombing, voids, bugholes, and form-tie holes
• Soft, dusty, weak, or chemically deteriorated surfaces
• Exposed or corroding reinforcement
• Efflorescence, dampness, leakage, and staining
• Oil, grease, chemical, and process contamination
• Previous patches, overlays, sealers, and coatings
• Slope, ponding, drainage, and low spots
• Condition of wall-to-floor transitions and curbs

Steel Survey Items

• General rusting, pitting, scaling, and section loss
• Perforations, leakage, distortion, and buckling
• Condition of welds, seams, bolts, and fasteners
• Sharp edges, burrs, weld spatter, undercut, and projections
• Crevices and skip-welded connections
• Previous coatings and visible underfilm corrosion
• Oil, grease, salts, chemical residue, and process contamination
• Flexing, vibration, movement, and inadequate support
• Backside corrosion or inaccessible surfaces
• Connections between steel and concrete components

Existing Coating or Lining Survey

Record the location, extent, and appearance of:

• Blistering, bubbling, and swelling
• Peeling, flaking, delamination, and loss of adhesion
• Cracking, checking, crazing, and splitting
• Softening, tackiness, embrittlement, or loss of flexibility
• Pinholes, holidays, pores, and missed areas
• Erosion, abrasion, gouges, cuts, and impact damage
• Discoloration, staining, chalking, and chemical deposits
• Failure around cracks, joints, drains, and penetrations
• Patch edges and previous repair failures
• Areas hidden behind tanks, supports, piping, or equipment

Testing Must Have a Defined Purpose

Do not perform tests simply because an instrument is available. Every test should answer a project question and have an established procedure, location plan, quantity, reporting method, and acceptance criterion.

Testing Locations Must Be Representative

Testing only the easiest or cleanest location can produce misleading results. The test plan should include representative and suspect areas.

Consider locations near:

• Tanks, pumps, valves, and transfer points
• Drains, trenches, sumps, and low areas
• Cracks, joints, penetrations, and transitions
• Doors, exposed edges, and traffic lanes
• Previous repairs and visible coating failures
• Exterior walls and below-grade areas
• Known spill or leakage locations
• Apparently sound control areas for comparison

Photograph the Condition Clearly

A useful photographic record should include:

1. An overview showing where the condition is located
2. A medium-distance view showing surrounding features
3. A close view showing the defect or test area
4. A ruler, crack comparator, or scale when size matters
5. A location marker or identification card
6. A filename or log entry connecting the photograph to the drawing

Photographs should be dated and retained in their original form. Avoid relying only on close-up photographs that cannot be located later.

Record the Test Method—not Just the Number

A test report should identify:

• Project, area, date, time, and exact location
• Test standard, procedure, and edition when specified
• Instrument manufacturer, model, and identification
• Calibration or verification status
• Surface and environmental conditions
• Number of readings or tests performed
• Individual readings—not only an average
• Observed failure location or failure mode
• Required acceptance criteria and source
• Name and qualification of the person performing the test
• Photographs and marked drawing references

Destructive Testing Requires Authorization

Pull-off tests, cores, probes, cuts, and coating samples damage the existing system or substrate. Obtain approval before performing destructive testing.

The test plan should define who authorizes the work, where testing may occur, how penetrations will be repaired, who accepts the repair, and how testing may affect an operating containment system.

Separate Base Scope From Discovered Work

Existing-condition surveys often reveal repair quantities that could not be accurately established during bidding. The contract should state what is included in the base scope and how additional work will be measured, authorized, priced, and documented.

Useful unit-price items may include:

• Concrete removal and replacement by volume
• Crack treatment by length
• Joint replacement by length
• Bughole or void filling by area
• Steel repair by defined item or approved labor and material
• Removal of additional failed lining by area

No additional repair should be concealed by subsequent work before it has been documented and accepted according to the project procedure.

Minimum Survey Deliverables

• Written survey report
• Marked plan or drawing
• Photographic log
• Defect and repair schedule
• Test plan and test reports
• List of inaccessible or unexamined areas
• List of assumptions and missing information
• Requests for information and written responses
• Approved repair procedures and system details
• Owner, engineer, manufacturer, and inspector decisions affecting the work

Technical References

• American Concrete Institute, ACI PRC-515.3-20—Guide for Assessment and Surface Preparation for Application of Protection Systems for Concrete
• ASTM International, ASTM D7234-22—Pull-Off Adhesion Strength of Coatings on Concrete
• ASTM International, ASTM D4263-24—Indicating Moisture in Concrete by the Plastic Sheet Method
• Association for Materials Protection and Performance, Inspection of Linings on Steel and Concrete
• Current project specifications and manufacturer requirements for assessment, testing, surface acceptance, and recordkeeping

Verify the current edition, scope, limitations, equipment requirements, and project acceptance criteria before using any test method.

Key Takeaways

• Complete the condition survey before preparation changes the evidence
• Separate observations, test data, and professional conclusions
• Connect every defect, photograph, and test to a defined location
• Use representative test locations and established acceptance criteria
• Obtain authorization before destructive testing
• Document inaccessible areas and missing information
• Obtain written approval before concealing repairs or changed conditions

Professional responsibility: Testing should be performed by qualified personnel using the specified procedure and properly maintained equipment. Structural conclusions, repair design, and acceptance decisions must remain with the parties authorized to make them.

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