SSPC Contractor Certification: Its Role in Prequalification of Industrial Painting Contractors

Selecting Industrial Painting Contractors

The proper selection of a coating contractor is an essential element of the facility owner’s overall coating management program. When owners plan for maintenance projects, choosing protective coatings contractors to bid on the project should involve planning and thought. Unfortunately, bid lists are often developed in one of three ways: 1.) Which companies bid the last job; 2.) Who was awarded the contract on the last coatings job; and 3.) What companies always have the lowest bid. Owners cannot spend too much time evaluating a contractor’s qualification.

• A good and strong specification document - one that is properly written and understood by the owner, the owner's engineer, the contractor and the paint manufacturer
• Appropriate coating systems and surface preparation - materials appropriate for the structure's intended use and exposure conditions
• Quality workmanship - employing a contractor capable of handling all of the specified details in the project
• Quality control documentation - Records from both the painting contractor and the project inspector that verify compliance with specifications. This also provides the diligent contractor with support documentation in case of a coating system failure or other dispute.

Whenever possible, the surface preparation and painting portion of a job should be given to a contractor specifically qualified to meet the varied aspects of the owner's scope of work. Two key areas for review are suitable/successful experience and a technical capability for the type of work or coating system specified. Coating contractors should not be considered for complicated coating removal and application unless they can provide evidence of satisfactory and verifiable work on similar coating projects. Owners that take the time to review these areas have greater potential that the job will be done right the first time.

• Is the contractor licensed to work in the state?
• How is the contractor organized — Are key management personnel qualified?
• Does the contractor have the resources to handle the job within the project schedule?
• If needed, does the contractor have the supervisors, field staff, and equipment to work on an accelerated schedule?
• Is the equipment operational and maintained properly?
• Are the supervisors and workers adequately trained?
• Is the contractor financially sound?
• Does the contractor have experience with the coating systems being applied?
• Are previous clients satisfied with the contractor's performance and willing to provide references?
• Does the contractor have a functioning quality control system, including routine, documented tests and results conducted by qualified personnel using properly calibrated instruments and tools?
• Does the contractor have written and enforced safety, health, and environmental compliance programs with provisions appropriate to the specified scope of work?
• Is the contractor adequately insured (workers compensation, liability, etc)?

In 1989, SSPC, a not-for-profit trade organization serving the protective coatings industry, developed its nationally recognized QP certification programs to serve as a third-party evaluation of industrial painting contractor capability. QP certification gives both private and public facility owners an industry-accepted baseline for evaluating the primary capabilities of the industrial painting contractors who bid on their jobs. These certification programs, along with other industry standards, help facility owners reduce their workloads during the contractor selection process by freeing valuable but limited in-house resources to focus on other job specific aspects of pre-qualification such as those listed above.

A fundamental part of the QP program is SSPC’s annual on-site evaluation of the contractor’s capabilities. This ensures that surface preparation and painting crews have the tools to perform quality work while adhering to established occupational safety and health requirements and applicable environmental protection regulations.

Requiring QP certification increases owner confidence in a contractor’s ability to successfully perform the specified work. While certification status, by its very nature, cannot guarantee quality work, it can provide assurance to the facility owner that certified contractors have structured management, technical capabilities, quality control systems, and safety, health, and environmental compliance programs in place to get the job done right the first time. SSPC certification eliminates the fly-by-night contractor.

Contractors with active quality control mechanisms find their job sites more productive and can reduce costly rework. Contractors that implement effective safety programs will inevitably reduce accidents and injuries, which translates into improved productivity and lower operating costs, such as reduced insurance premiums. Hiring certified contractors demonstrates the facility owner’s desire to employ the best-qualified contractors available. This is key for owners who take pride in being responsible corporate citizens and who wish to reduce their risk by hiring qualified firms.

For certification to QP 1 (field) or QP 3 (shop), industrial painting contractors must demonstrate competence in management procedures, technical capabilities, quality control, and safety and environmental compliance. The QP 2 certification builds on the fundamentals of QP 1 by adding criteria focused on managing and removing hazardous paint, employing highly trained qualified personnel, and adopting the appropriate safety and environmental compliance programs. Supplementary programs to quality the technical capabilities of contractors who apply coatings and surfacings to concrete (QP 8) and who do metallizing in the shop and field (QP 6) are also available for more specialized contracts.

In order to maintain the value and quality of QP certification, SSPC has implemented a strong Disciplinary Action Criteria (DAC), which establishes procedures and rules for conducting special unannounced audits, issuing warnings, placing firms on probation, and suspending or revoking certification of certified entities who violate program rules concerning quality of work and service, safety, health, and environmental compliance and business ethics.

Summary
Facility Owner Benefits

• Reducing the workload of the contract or evaluation team or committee
• Factoring contractor capability into "low bid" evaluation
• Employing a powerful evaluation tool that utilizes consensus industry standards
• Achieving greater equality among submitted bids when QP certification is included in RFPs
• Greater confidence in contractors when specifying high tech coatings or specialized processes

Contractor Benefits

Contractors discover that:

• Bidding is among equals
• Certification is not based on company revenue
• They are acknowledged for their efforts toward quality and safety
• Fly-by-night firms do not win valuable contracts
• Contractors improve their businesses by operating more efficiently and more productively
• Contractors who follow certification guidelines reduce rework and lower operating costs without sacrificing quality standards