Effective Protective Coating Warranties for Steel Bridges

Abstract The service life of steel bridge coatings is occasionally shorter than the intended design life, resulting in the need for increased maintenance painting. Warranty clauses could improve the situation by incentivizing higher quality and requiring repair of defects which become apparent within the warranty period. This paper examines the value of warranty terms in painting contracts to improve the quality and durability of steel bridge coatings. The paper is based on research and survey data collected from transportation agencies. The use of warranty contracts for bridge painting remains uncommon. For the agencies using warranty contracts, the benefit of the warranty remains inherently subjective. All the warranties rely on visually apparent defects at the time of the warranty inspection. Warranties typically define failure in terms of surface corrosion, blistering, or peeling paint. Only one state includes color and gloss concerns. Despite concerns about enforcing warranties, agencies using warranties do not seem to have any problems with enforcement. It remains important for any agency looking to adopt a coating warranty to carefully consider the nonconforming criteria, level of inspection, and warranty period. The paper will discuss the pros and cons of various approaches.