Super Yacht Coatings: ICOMIA Launches Guidelines

September 25, 2018 - MONACO: ICOMIA launched ICOMIA Standard 51 – 18: Acceptance Criteria Guidelines for the Finish and Appearance for Super Yacht Coatings. This follows on from past documentation on acceptance criteria for coatings, including ISO 11347. This brand-new document takes a novel approach to the development of acceptance criteria: rather than providing ‘Pass/Fail’ values it will instead serve as a structured guide to assist contractual parties in constructing their own project specific, fit-for-purpose acceptance criteria document.

The document was formally launched on Tuesday 25th September at a joint meeting ICOMIA Coatings and Applicators Group and the ICOMIA Superyacht Refit Group, ahead of the Monaco Yacht Show. Click here to download the guidelines: https://www.icomia.com/library/Default.aspx?LibraryDocumentId=1699

ICOMIA identified that disputes frequently arose between coatings applicators, shipyards, owners and paint manufacturers about what should be an acceptable paint finish, due to a lack of universally accepted criteria. Whilst the ICOMIA working group responsible for the guidelines considered creating such a criterion, it was collectively decided that this would be too complex and lead to unsatisfactory compromises, requiring consideration of too many factors specific to individual projects.

Consequently, it was decided that a new document would take a high-level approach to the development of acceptance criteria: instead of providing ‘Pass/Fail’ values, it provides a methodology for the creation of such criteria. It is purely a guideline for companies/contractual parties/consultants on how to create their own acceptance criteria – offering a technical 'Aide-mémoire'. The Acceptance Criteria Guidelines for the Finish and Appearance for Super Yacht Coatings is designed to allow the creation of mutually-agreed, project-specific criteria, and should be used in the pre-contract stage. Paint criteria parameters and Pass/Fail values may consider any of the following client requirements: materials, products to be used, equipment, processes, timelines, application facilities and specific paint system variables. In each case, the 2018 ICOMIA guidelines provide a methodology for determining appropriate values for each requirement.

The new ICOMIA guideline provides a common framework for owners, applicators, shipyards and yacht coatings consultants to determine their own acceptance criteria for individual projects. These criteria can then be included in the coatings contract to ensure that all parties are satisfied with the outcome. This avoids disputes, which can be extremely costly when dealing with large yachts.
The guidelines support known industry standards, including ISO 11347 (Measurement and Assessment of the Visual Appearance of Coatings, produced in 2011). An updated version of ISO 11347 will shortly follow the new ICOMIA guidelines. Whilst ISO 11347 remains essential for obtaining baseline figures, superyacht paint coating criteria, parameters and values can now be customised according to client specific requirements, materials, processes, locations, timelines and other variables such as the paint system to be specified. The new ICOMIA Guidelines and the ISO 11347 should be used in conjunction; providing the pre-project acceptance criteria guidance and post project visual measurement processes respectively.

The guidelines were developed by an ICOMIA working group consisting of experts in the field, including shipyards, paint manufacturers, surveyors and applicators. After many iterations, the group is confident that the guidelines are an invaluable resource for all contractual parties entrusted to undertake work on a large yacht project.