Film Thickness

The dry film thickness of the individual layers in the system and the total dry film thickness shall be
measured according to ISO 19840 with a method specified in ISO 2808. The measurements must be
representative of the inspected area.
According to ISO 19840, the total coated surface can be used to determine the number of necessary
measurements. The sampling plan consists of this number of measurements to be taken in an
inspection area, and is as follows:
Area/length of the inspected Minimum number of Maximum number of
area (m or m) measurements measurements
allowed to be repeated
up to 1 5 1
above 1 to 3 10 2
above 3 to 10 15 3
above 10 to 30 20 4
above 30 to 100 30 6
above 100 add 10 for every additional 20 % of the minimum
100 m2 or 100 m or part thereof number of measurements
Areas above 1000 m2 or m should be divided into smaller inspection areas.
According to ISO 19840, the dry film thickness is accepted when:
(1) The arithmetic mean of all the individual dry film thicknesses is equal to or greater than the
nominal dry film thickness (NDFT);
(2) All individual dry film thicknesses are equal to or above 80 % of the NDFT;
(3) Individual dry film thicknesses between 80 % of the NDFT and the NDFT are acceptable
provided that the number of these measurements is less than 20% of the total number of individual
measurements taken
The NDFT is the dry film thickness specified for each layer or for the whole paint system.
The dry film thickness cannot exceed the maximum imposed by the coating manufacturer, or in
absence of such a value may be three times the nominal dry film thickness.