How and with which frequency the inspections of marine structures should be done?
Three types of inspections can be conducted on marine structures. The way the inspection should be conducted and its frequency will depend on the type of inspection, as indicated in the following table.
In the table, the inspection frequency ranges are just recommendations based on discussions generated among several experts from different countries during meetings of the working group that developed the publication. Under no circumstances should they be considered mandatory.
The authorities of the country concerned should always be consulted in this regard to find out if there are any national regulations or recommendations. It should be noted, however, that following these recommendations will enable early detection of minor problems that can probably be corrected in a relatively simple and inexpensive manner.
The longer the time between inspections, the more likely it is that those small problems will go undetected and progress until the integrity and safety of the structure are compromised, and it will certainly have a much higher cost and be more difficult to execute the repairs.
It should be noted that the structure must be inspected in lots; it cannot be inspected all at once.
These lots should be established by specialist technicians so that they include the critical points of the structure and compound a representative sample of the structure.
However, despite having individual reports and results for each lot, which might lead to the establishment of some measures, each of that lots also belongs to a greater whole (the complete structure), so once all the data from all the lots have been compiled, results must also be interpreted together.
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