What is a hold point?

A point in the job where work stops until a check has been done and recorded. On a coating job the natural ones are before prep, after prep, before each coat, during the first section of each coat, between coats, and before handover. Each one is the last moment a particular problem can be fixed cheaply, which is why it is a hold point and not a suggestion.

Who should do the checks on a small crew?

Whoever runs the job, and the same person every time if possible, because consistency matters more than seniority. On a two person crew the installer checks their own work; the point of the checklist is that it asks the same questions in the same order whoever is holding it, and that the answers are written down rather than remembered.

Do I need a wet film gauge to check thickness?

A gauge reads the wet film directly, and it is worth having. The check that works with or without one is arithmetic: you know how much material went into a section and how big the section is, so you know the rate you achieved, and you can compare it with the rate on the data sheet. Do it on the first section of each coat, while there is still time to change how much you are putting down.

Is a quality control record worth keeping after the job is paid?

Yes, for as long as the floor is under warranty. It is the record of the conditions, batches and checks on the day, which is what a manufacturer warranty claim usually asks for and what lets you tell a workmanship problem from a floor that was misused or a slab that changed after you left.

Quality Control Walkthrough for Floor Coating Jobs

Most failures are visible, or measurable, one stage before they become permanent. Check the floor at each hold point, write down what you found, and do not bury a problem under the next coat.

Quick answer

Stop and check the floor at six hold points: before prep, after prep, before each coat, on the first section of each coat, between coats, and before handover. At each one, ask the same questions in the same order, write the answers down, and fix anything that fails before the next stage covers it. Take every limit from the data sheet of the product on site, not from memory.

Quality control is a set of hold points, not an inspection at the end

By the time a floor is finished, most of what could have gone wrong with it is sealed in. Poor bond, thin film, contamination and a missed recoat window are all invisible under a good looking topcoat, and they surface weeks later as a callback, which pricing callbacks and warranty work puts a cost on. Each of them was visible, or measurable, at one specific point earlier in the job.

A hold point is that moment: the work stops until a check has been done and recorded. This page says what to check at each one and links to the page that explains how to get that stage right. The quality control checklist puts all six on one printable sheet.

Hold point 1: before prep

The last point at which a problem is the customer's decision rather than your repair.

The products on site are the ones quoted, in the quantities the area needs at the rate the data sheet asks for. The epoxy coverage calculator gives you the quantity. Write down the batch or lot numbers now, while the labels are on the kits
The slab has been assessed. Cracks, joints, previous coatings and sealers noted, and moisture tested by the method the product calls for. How to test concrete moisture covers the methods, and how long before coating new concrete covers a young slab
Anything outside the quote is raised before work starts. A moisture reading over the product's limit or a slab that needs more repair than priced is a conversation now, and a dispute later

Hold point 2: after prep

The four prep gates, checked rather than assumed. How to prep concrete for epoxy explains each one; this hold point only asks whether each is met.

Sound

No loose, hollow or crumbling areas left; repairs placed and cured as their product requires

Profiled

The profile the data sheet asks for, everywhere, including edges and corners the machine could not reach. The surface profile chart shows what a coarse profile costs in material

Clean

Dust removed, and the water drop test passed across the floor, not just in one spot

Dry

Moisture within the product's limit, by its test method, recorded with the reading

Hold point 3: before each coat

Repeated for every coat, because the conditions change between them and so does the clock.

Conditions. Slab temperature, air temperature and humidity, and the spread between the slab and the dew point, all inside the data sheet's range. The dew point calculator gives you the spread
The recoat window is still open. Too soon and too late fail in opposite ways: wrinkling and alligatoring at one edge, intercoat delamination at the other
Mixing. The ratio checked, any induction time the product requires observed, and the batch numbers of this coat written down. How to mix epoxy properly covers the method

Hold point 4: the first section of each coat

The one check that cannot be done by eye. A section can look even and still be spread well under the rate the product needs. Measure the material that went into the first section against its area, and compare the rate you achieved with the data sheet, while there is still time to change how much you are putting down. How to apply an epoxy base coat explains the check, and the film thickness calculator works the film back from the solids content of the product in front of you.

While you are there, look along the wet film in low light for holidays and for roller and lap marks, which are much easier to fix in the wet than after cure.

Hold point 5: between coats

The most valuable check on the job, because it is the last time a defect in one coat is still a local repair rather than a grind back. Walk the floor before the next coat goes on and look for:

Pinholes, bubbles and fisheyes, each of which has a cause that will repeat in the next coat unless it is dealt with
On a broadcast floor, bald spots, loose flake and ridges, which the scrape and vacuum before the topcoat is for. How to install a flake floor lists what can still be fixed at this point and what cannot
Soft or tacky areas. A coat that has not cured properly is not a base for the next one, and epoxy not curing separates slow from never

When something looks wrong, identify it before you agree what to do about it. Diagnose a coating failure works from what you can see back to the cause.

Hold point 6: before handover

Walk the finished floor on your own, with the same checklist the customer walkthrough uses, before the customer sees it. Anything you find first is a punch item you raised. Customer handover and floor care covers the walk with the customer, the punch list and the care sheet, and the final walkthrough and handover sheet is the printable for it.

When a check fails

Stop at the hold point and fix it there. A failed check before prep is a conversation with the customer, a failed check after prep is more prep, and a defect found between coats is repaired before the next coat. The next coat never hides a problem; it seals it in. Write down what failed and what you did, because that record is worth as much as the passes.

What to record, and why

At every hold point: the date and time, who checked, the readings, the batch numbers, and pass or fail with what was done. The checklist has a line for each. It is the same record a manufacturer warranty claim usually asks for, and it is what lets you tell a workmanship problem from a floor that was misused or a slab that changed after you left.

What this guide does not cover, and where those answers live

How to do each stage. Every hold point above links to the page that owns it. This page only asks whether it was done
Product limits. Moisture limits, temperature ranges, spread rates and recoat windows are product figures, so they come from the data sheet. How to read a technical data sheet covers finding them
The walk with the customer. That is customer handover and floor care