AMPP Code of Ethics and Inspector Professional Conduct

Quick Answer: The AMPP Code of Ethics requires certified coating inspectors to act with impartiality, honesty, and integrity; avoid conflicts of interest; not modify or override the project specification; and document work accurately through daily inspection reports (DIR) and non-conformance reports (NCR). The inspector's authority includes holding or stopping work at defined hold and witness points when specifications are violated. The full Code of Ethics text is provided during CIP course registration and is not published publicly without AMPP membership.

AMPP Code of Ethics — Publicly Documented Principles

The AMPP Code of Ethics is delivered in full to candidates at CIP course registration. The publicly documented general principles include:

• Impartiality: perform inspection work without bias toward the owner, the contractor, or the coating manufacturer.
• Honesty: reporting must be truthful, accurate, and free of falsification or alteration of data.
• Integrity: uphold the specification as written and do not act outside the defined inspector role.
• Conflict of interest: disclose any financial, personal, or contractual interest that could influence judgment and decline work where the conflict cannot be managed.
• Non-modification of specifications: do not change, relax, or interpret away specification requirements; only the specifier or owner can authorize a deviation, typically through a formal change order.
• Confidentiality: protect the owner's and employer's proprietary information, including product formulations, pricing, and project schedules.

A CIP inspector paid by a coating manufacturer to recommend that manufacturer's product on a project where they are also the independent inspector is in a conflict of interest.

Conflict of Interest and Professional Conduct

Recognizing conflicts is a recurring exam theme. Common conflict-of-interest situations and their handling:

Professional conduct also extends to job-site behavior: following all site safety rules, not interfering with contractor operations beyond the inspector role, reporting observations factually without editorializing or assigning blame.

CIP Job Duties and Supervision Guidelines

The CIP Level 1 inspector's duties, per the AMPP CIP program, include:

1. Pre-job conference participation: review the scope, specification, inspection plan, hold and witness points, and acceptance criteria with the owner, specifier, and contractor.
2. Specification review: read the complete project specification including coating system data sheets, surface prep requirements, DFT ranges, and environmental limits; clarify ambiguities in writing before mobilization.
3. Ambient condition monitoring: record dry bulb, wet bulb, relative humidity, dew point, and surface temperature at the agreed frequency.
4. Surface preparation verification: confirm the specified SSPC-SP grade, surface profile, cleanliness, and absence of contaminants before coating application.
5. Coating application monitoring: verify mix ratio, induction time, WFT, stripe coats, and DFT within the specified recoat window.
6. Documentation: issue daily inspection reports (DIR) each shift and non-conformance reports (NCR) for each deviation.
7. Final inspection: holiday testing, adhesion, cure verification, and final report.

A Level 1 inspector typically works under the supervision of a senior or Level 2/3 inspector for complex projects such as immersion service or nuclear coatings. The Level 1 inspector is qualified to perform inspections independently on routine projects within the scope of CIP training.

Inspector Authority — Hold Points and Stop Work

At a hold point in the inspection plan, work cannot proceed past that point until the inspector verifies conformance and releases the hold. At a witness point, the inspector is notified and may observe; if absent, work may proceed after a defined waiting period, depending on the contract. When the specification is violated — application below the 5°F (3°C) dew point spread, DFT below the specified minimum, or coating over contaminated substrate — the inspector has authority to stop the non-conforming work and issue an NCR. The inspector does not have authority to direct the contractor how to fix the work; the inspector records the non-conformance, reports it to the owner or specifier, and awaits disposition.

Daily Inspection Report (DIR) and Non-Conformance Report (NCR)

The DIR documents each shift's observations and is the primary project record.

An NCR is issued for every deviation from the specification: low DFT, wrong surface prep grade, application outside environmental limits, missed stripe coat, or any item failing acceptance criteria. The NCR identifies the deviation, references the specification clause, states location and quantity, and tracks resolution. The specifier or owner dispositions each NCR as accept-as-is, repair, or remove and replace.