The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has issued Guidelines for Coatings Maintenance and Repairs. The principal objective of IACS is to set the technological standard for ships, in order to secure safety of life, property and environment at sea. With these Guidelines, IACS aims at assisting the Surveyors, Owners, Yards, flag administrations and other interested parties involved in the survey, assessment and repair of coatings in ballast tanks and combined cargo/ballast tanks, herein referred to as "ballast tanks".

Considerable space is dedicated in the Guidelines to definitions and description of terms aiming at describing every term which is used in these Guidelines and other commonly used terms, and providing, through a common language, the basis for a common understanding. It is therefore suggested that Class Surveyors and Inspectors of Owners, Yards Administration and Manufacturers use, as far as possible, these definitions.

The motivation for developing these Guidelines is the revision of IACS UR Z10.1, Z10.3 and Z10.4, which implies that coating found in less than GOOD condition, shall be repaired or maintained in order to avoid annual survey. The Guidelines address a clear definition of GOOD coating condition and how to restore from FAIR and / or POOR conditions to GOOD respectively.The basis for developing these Guidelines has been several Tanker Structure Co-operative Form (TSCF) publications, accordingly some text and illustrations have been reproduced directly in the Guidelines.