Vessels and containment structures fail slowly and then suddenly. Corrosion under insulation, pitting on a bund floor, a nameplate nobody can read, a drain valve that has been wired open for years: none of it stops production on the day it appears, and all of it is on the critical path the day it does not.
We carry out visual and engineering-led inspection of tanks, pressure vessels, silos, bunds and sumps for process manufacturers across the UK. The work is aligned with the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and, for chemical containment, with CIRIA C736. It is done as routine maintenance, as a pre-start-up check, or as due diligence when a site or an asset is being bought.
What the work involves
Inspection starts with what can be seen and what can be proved. We inspect vessel exteriors and, where it is safe and required, internal surfaces, assessing structural integrity for corrosion, deformation, pitting and mechanical damage. We verify design and certification against nameplates, documentation and the original design codes, including ASME and EN 13445, which on older assets is frequently where the first gap appears.
On containment we check bund condition, drain isolation, overflow protection and the arrangements that are supposed to stop a leak becoming a discharge. We also assess the things that determine whether the asset can be maintained at all: access, ladders, handrails and platforms. An inspection that reports a defect on a surface nobody can safely reach has not finished the job.
Where the visual assessment is not enough, we coordinate non-destructive testing, typically ultrasonic thickness testing or dye penetrant, and work with your NDT provider or ours. Findings come back as a graded condition report with recommendations for repair, replacement or continued service, and where the results require it we can take the engineering further into re-rating, re-certification or design modification.
What an inspection report should actually tell you
A list of observations is not a decision. The useful output of an inspection is a clear position on each asset: fit for continued service, fit subject to a defined action, or not fit, with the reasoning visible and the timescales realistic. That is what lets you plan a shutdown, argue for a budget, or satisfy an auditor.
We also grade findings so they can be scheduled rather than treated as one undifferentiated backlog. A site with forty vessels and a single list of two hundred observations has not been helped. A site with the same findings sorted by consequence and urgency can plan the next three years of asset care around it, which is what most clients actually need.
What you get
- Visual inspection of vessel exteriors and, where safe and required, internal surfaces
- Structural integrity assessment covering corrosion, deformation, pitting and mechanical damage
- Verification of design and certification against nameplates, documentation and original design codes
- Containment checks covering bund condition, drain isolation and overflow protection
- Coordination of non-destructive testing where deeper assessment is needed
- Assessment of access and maintenance provision, including ladders, handrails and platforms
- A graded condition report with clear recommendations for repair, replacement or continued use
- Support with re-rating, re-certification or design modification where the findings require it
- Help setting up inspection routines and documentation systems for ongoing asset care
When clients typically call us
- A statutory inspection is due and the written scheme needs engineering support behind it
- An asset or site is being acquired and its physical condition needs verifying before completion
- Ageing plant is being life-extended and someone needs to say whether it can be
- A bund or sump is suspected of leaking, or its condition has never been formally assessed
- Original certification or design documentation for a vessel cannot be found
- An insurer or auditor has asked for an inspection history that does not exist
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a statutory PSSR examination?
Not quite, and the distinction matters. A statutory examination under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations is carried out by a competent person against your written scheme of examination. Our work sits alongside that: engineering assessment, condition grading, containment inspection and the follow-up design when an examination raises something. Where you need the two coordinated, we will tell you plainly which part is which.
Do you need the plant shut down?
Often not. External inspection, containment assessment and documentation review can generally be done on live plant with the right permits and access. Internal inspection needs entry, so we plan that around your shutdown windows rather than asking for one.
Can you inspect assets you have no history for?
Yes, and that is common on older sites and on acquisitions. Where documentation is missing we work from the asset itself, reconstruct what can be established from nameplates and construction, and are explicit about what remains unverified rather than glossing over it.
What happens if you find something serious?
You hear about it that day, not in the report four weeks later. We then set out the options, which may be repair, de-rating, restriction of operating conditions or replacement, with the engineering behind each.
Related: Part of our engineering consultancy services. See also CIRIA C736 compliance, project due diligence and pressure relief system design.
If you have assets whose condition is assumed rather than known, or an inspection history that would not survive an audit, we can put that on a documented footing. Talk to us about your plant. Request a call