Guardian™

Developed in-house for the exclusive use of Incospec & Associates clients, Guardian™ is an indispensable tool in the management of corrosion protection of plant, equipment and other valuable assets.

Designed with input from leading figures in the oil & gas and manufacturing industries, Guardian™ leads the way in Risk-Based assessment of coating failure.

Used in conjunction with appropriate condition surveys, Guardian™ enables asset managers to prioritise maintenance requirements to ensure that available funding is spent in the most efficient manner. The costs and effectiveness of work undertaken can be monitored and assessed, enabling valuable maintenance dollars to be spent in the most effective manner.

Timely maintenance is imperative if structures are to remain in a sound and functional condition. Breakdown of coatings and lack of maintenance can result in the onset of corrosion and eventual destruction of an asset through loss of integrity.

Guardian™ assists in maximising the value of your assets by allowing scheduling of preventative maintenance. Using a structured methodology, the Guardian™ survey encapsulates all data into a dynamic and usable format.

The Guardian™ system lifecycle involves three key steps:

• Survey - Guardian™ surveys of your asset(s) are undertaken by trained, fully qualified coating inspectors. Some of the factors taken into account during the survey are: exposure environment; type of corrosion; extent of corrosion; substrate; type of Item (e.g., handrail) and coating system condition. Qualified surveyors assign an overall repair / maintenance priority qualified with recommended maintenance work.
• Data Entry – the gathered survey data is entered into Guardian™ where the data is checked & verified by trained professionals.
• Data evaluation, reporting and maintenance estimates – Guardian™ presents the survey data in easily assessable formats including reports that can identify high priorities or items most at risk. Guardian™ can also identify budgeting estimates for maintenance operations. Data evaluation is the working end of the software, enabling the asset owner to plan (up to 5 years) and budget for maintenance funding.

Decisions of where best to spend the ever decreasing budget allocation for maintenance involve many criteria. Guardian™ allows the clients’ own Risk Matrix to be incorporated into the software.

To achieve the correct risk identification for each surveyed Item, Guardian™ generates a Performance Indicator Number (PIN) – based on a unique in-house formula - which is used to indicate the probability of coating failure. Finally, Guardian™ maps the calculated probability against an assigned Item consequence to provide an individual items' risk on the risk matrix.

The overall risk of coating failure can be used to identify and dictate the prioritised areas of maintenance, thus avoiding over-protecting areas of low priority, often at the expense of the critical areas. More importantly, Guardian™ puts the asset manager in control of the well being of his valuable asset.