Evaluation and quality assessement of industrial floors

In the beginning of a project where repair, protection or reinforcement works are planed on industrial floors, the condition of the structure must be inspected and assessed properly. Which kind of expertise and qualifications are expected from the assessment consultant, depends on the structure, its environment and potential defects. The investigation must be thorough enough to get a reliable picture over the existence, extent, grade, reasons and effects of all significant degradation mechanisms and to assess their progress and effect on the essential requirements that the structure shall meet. The aim of this chapter is to present the general procedures to be followed in order to investigate the common situation of the industrial floors. As the testing procedures are very similar as well for concrete substrate than for overlay evaluation, the principles of the measurement are given hereafter, while the specific applications will be described in chapters 4.2., 4.3. and 4.4. Engineers generally require guidance on both the techniques available for the condition assessment of structures and the methods for data interpretation. Two major stages are usually recommended for such operation. The first stage is based on a rapid-scan visual assessment, often including limited sampling in areas obviously damaged, from which areas can be selected for more detailed investigations. The second stage contains detailed diagnostic survey relies on destructive and non destructive testing techniques