3.1 The ability of the coating system to reach
its target useful life depends on the type of coating system, steel
preparation, application and coating inspection and maintenance. All
these aspects contribute to the good performance of the coating system.
3.2 Inspection of surface preparation and coating
processes shall be agreed upon between the shipowner, the shipyard
and the coating manufacturer and presented to the Administration or
its recognized organization for review. Clear evidence of these inspections
shall be reported and be included in the Coating Technical File (CTF)
(see paragraph 3.4).
3.3 When considering the Standard provided in
section 4, the following is to be taken into account:
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.1 it is essential that specifications, procedures
and the various different steps in the coating application process
(including, but not limited to, surface preparation) are strictly
applied by the shipbuilder in order to prevent premature decay and/or
deterioration of the coating system;
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.2 the coating performance can be improved by
adopting measures at the ship design stage such as reducing scallops,
using rolled profiles, avoiding complex geometric configurations and
ensuring that the structural configuration permits easy access for
tools and to facilitate cleaning, drainage and drying of the space
to be coated; and
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.3 the coating performance standard provided in
this document is based on experience from manufacturers, shipyards
and ship operators; it is not intended to exclude suitable alternative
coating systems, providing a performance at least equivalent to that
specified in this Standard is demonstrated. Acceptance criteria for
alternative systems are provided in section 8.