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 should be agreed upon between the shipowner,
the shipyard and the coating manufacturer and presented to the Administration
for review. Clear evidence of these inspections should 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 should 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 resolution is based on the experience of 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.