Steel imperfections during production and assembly processes are very frequent and significantly affect surface preparation processes, coating applications and the durability of protective systems.
In projects in which the high durability protective systems of the structures are exposed to environments with C4 or higher corrosion or immersion environments lm1 to lm4, P3 level of preparation of surface imperfections is required.
P3 level is the most demanding preparation level of ISO 8501-3. This type of preparation requires high cost resources in addition to the impact on the execution time.
A demanding preparation like P3 entails a high investment. The impact on the project must be carefully analysed, as well as the benefit on the investment during the protective system service life and/or the durability expectations of it.