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The Importance of Follow-up Inspections

Many companies that contract thermographic inspections are usually provided with a technical report clearly identifying areas and conditions that need attention. From the information contained in the report, maintenance personnel investigate suspect areas and make appropriate repairs.

Once corrective actions have been completed, it is extremely important to have the thermographer return to reinspect suspect areas to ensure that the original discrepancies have been properly repaired. One professional infrared testing company reported as many as 80% of exceptions were still present after repairs had reportedly been made. In this case, the follow-up inspection was actually more important than the original inspection.

The follow up inspection is also a good time to have the thermographer inspect equipment that may have been off line or not under load at the time of the initial infrared inspection.

Infrared thermography has the highest return on investment for all of the PPM technologies. It has been calculated at about ten dollars saved for every dollar invested. So, it is important to reinspect after repairs. A follow up infrared inspection can make a fair PPM program into an exceptional PPM program.

This Tip of the Week was submitted by Erich Black, of Black & Associates, 15210 Priceville Road, Sparks, MD 21152. Erich may be contacted at 410.472.2416 or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit their web site.