This part of ISO 16276 specifies procedures for assessing the fracture strength of a protective paint coating of any thickness on a steel substrate of thickness not less than 3 mm. The procedures given in this part of ISO 16276 are based on methods used with different types of pull-off test equipment. The results obtained using such different types of equipment are not comparable. NOTE 1 Substrates of less than 3 mm in thickness can be tested if they are strengthened by the sandwich technique (see ISO 4624) or by the nature of the structure (e.g. I beam or backing-plate). Otherwise, test panels with a thickness of at least 10 mm coated in the same way as the structure can be used, or the method specified ISO 16276-2 can be used. This part of ISO 16276 is only applicable if a fracture strength value is specified, together with the type of test equipment and the manufacturer of the equipment. Usually, this information is included in contract documentation. NOTE 2 A value for the fracture strength is only meaningful if the requirements concerning the ambient conditions (see 6.4.2) are met. This part of ISO 16276 also specifies suitable equipment and defines inspection areas, sampling plans and acceptance/rejection criteria. It does not give any values of the fracture strength of different protective paint coatings.