QP 1 Certification
(Field Application to Complex Industrial and Marine Structures)
QP 1 certification is a nationally recognized program that evaluates
the practices of industrial painting contractors in key areas of
business. These standards are considered to be the MINIMUM level
of service and quality for today's coatings industry.
The complex nature of coating systems and the specific surface
preparations required for these systems, have made the QP 1 guidelines
vital to the longevity of applied protective coatings.
The program is designed to provide facility owners and specification
writers a means to determine whether the painting contractor has
the capability to perform surface preparations and coating application
in the field on complex industrial and marine structures, such
as:
- Bridges
- Food and beverage facilities
- Off-shore drilling
- Power generation facilities
- Petro/chemical plants
- Storage tanks
- Ships maintenance
To be certified by SSPC, industrial contractors must demonstrate
competence in several key areas:
- Management procedures
- Quality control
- Safety and environmental compliance
- Technical capabilities
These areas are evaluated through a series of submittals to SSPC
describing the contractor's business operations. Then an impartial,
on-site audit of a representative active job-site, and headquarter
offices is performed to verify that the programs and practices
are in fact implemented and used.
The on-site audit criteria can be found in both the QP 1 application
and the Internal Audit Checklist. SSPC suggests that the contractor
perform an internal audit using the checklist to be sure all areas
of evaluation are addressed prior to an audit.
Applications
The QP 1 application and internal audit checklist can be found
on the SSPC Lists, Forms & Applications page. A web link is
provided at the top of all Certification pages.
Additional Information Found on the Lists,
Applications, and Forms page:
- Applications for Certification
- Auditor Evaluation Survey
- Contractor Performance Form
- DAC
- Fee Schedules
- Job Notification Form
- List of Certified Contractors - By Name and By State
- List of Owners Known to Require Certified Contractors
- Certification News Center
- Technical Standards Library Requirements
QP 1 Background
The QP 1 certification was originally organized to answer an industry
need voiced by contractors, owners and others who hire industrial
painting contractors. At that time, the industry did not have a
national standard to evaluate the primary capability the contractor
prior to a contract award.
SSPC issued the first version of the QP 1 standard in September
1989, with the certification program being released later that
same year.
Since that time, the QP 1 contractor certification program has
been consistently reviewed and improved to meet the changing quality
needs of our industry. Significant QP 1 changes are made by consensus
and approved by the SSPC Standards Review Committee and the SSPC
Board of Governors.
SSPC-QP 1, QP 2 and QP 3 are a part of SSPC Qualification Procedure
Standards developed through the SSPC consensus process.
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