Quality assurance for intumescent paint coatings

We believe Painting Contractor Certification Program (PCCP) accreditation is paramount for passive fire protection contractors engaged in applying intumescent paint coating systems.

This, combined with well-designed inspection test plans (ITPs) from the blast and paint yards, plus the intumescent paint coating contractor, are critical to ensuring adequate fire protection from an intumescent coating system.

All structural steelwork needs to be documented with:

• Blast profile readings

• Primer dry film thickness (DFT) readings

• Intumescent basecoat DFT coating readings

• Top coat DFT readings

This should be done by an ACA paint inspector or an NACE qualified inspector.

All ITPs and quality-assurance documentation needs to be collected and securely stored to ensure compliance is both achieved and maintained.

There are several systems designed to collect and manage compliance documentation. A good example of such a program is Certifire which is designed and programmed in Australia to ensure it meets all relevant Australian requirements.