A biddable industrial epoxy floor specification needs eight things: substrate acceptance criteria, moisture limits with the test method named, a required surface profile, the system build in mils, coving and details, cure and return-to-service times, a warranty, and the acceptance tests run at handover. Written that way, every contractor prices the same floor, and disputes later are settled by measurements instead of opinions. This guide is for the facilities manager or engineer who has to issue the document. For what the systems themselves are and how they perform, see our industrial epoxy flooring page.
Quick answer: the sections a biddable floor specification needs
A biddable specification follows the standard three-part layout used across construction documents: general requirements, the products, and the execution. In flooring terms, that means the conditions and submittals first, then the system and its properties, then how it is prepared, applied, cured and tested.
Within that frame, eight items do most of the work, and they are the ones that cause disputes when they are missing:
- Substrate acceptance criteria
- Moisture limits, with test methods and thresholds
- Surface preparation, specified as a profile rather than a machine
- The system build: product type, mils per coat, total mils and coving
- Cure and return-to-service requirements
- Warranty terms
- Acceptance testing and the pass criteria
- A clear statement of who is responsible for the existing slab
This post takes the procurement view. It does not explain what epoxy systems are or what to expect from them, which our industrial page covers, and it does not repeat the chemical exposure guidance in our post on chemical spill resistance for warehouse floors. It covers how to write the requirements down so they can be bid and enforced.
Substrate criteria: strength, soundness and acceptance of the existing slab
The specification should define what an acceptable existing slab looks like and say who accepts it, because the slab is where most unplanned cost comes from. A coating is only as sound as the concrete it bonds to.
Write acceptance criteria for the following: surface soundness, meaning no laitance, dusting, delamination or weak surface layer that will fail under the coating. Cracks and joints, with how each type will be treated. Contamination, such as oil, grease and previous coatings, with how it is removed. Flatness and slope where drainage matters. And the age and cure state of new concrete, since fresh slabs need time before coating.
The governing reference for slab construction and finishing is ACI 302.1R. It describes how floor slabs are placed, finished and cured, and it helps explain why a hard-troweled or heavily burnished surface may need more aggressive preparation than a lightly finished one. If the slab is new, the specification should reference the concrete contractor's finishing and curing requirements so the two trades do not conflict.
Then assign responsibility. State whether the coating contractor must inspect and accept the slab before starting, and what happens if conditions are not acceptable. A common and workable approach is a pre-installation meeting and a walk of the slab, with findings recorded and remediation priced as a defined line item. Unallocated substrate risk is the single most common source of change orders, so this sentence in the specification saves more than almost any other.
Moisture limits: naming ASTM F1869 and F2170 thresholds in the document
Write the moisture requirement as a test method and a threshold, not as the word dry. A number can be verified and disputed on evidence. A word cannot.
Two test methods are standard for concrete slabs. ASTM F1869 measures moisture vapor emission from the slab surface with calcium chloride, reported in pounds per 1,000 square feet per 24 hours. ASTM F2170 measures relative humidity inside the slab with in-situ probes, reported as a percentage. Many resinous flooring manufacturers publish limits for both, and a figure of about 3 pounds per 1,000 square feet per 24 hours for F1869 is a commonly seen limit for standard systems. The limit for a given product comes from its data sheet, and the specification should cite that sheet rather than guess.
The specification should state four things. Which test or tests are required. How many test locations, usually tied to the floor area. Who performs the tests and when, with results reported before the coating starts. And what happens if a slab exceeds the limit: either a moisture-tolerant primer or vapor barrier is required, at whose cost, or work stops until the slab is addressed.
San Antonio's expansive clay soils make moisture common, so a specification that is silent here is leaving risk unallocated. Our guide to moisture testing for epoxy flooring explains what the results mean and how mitigation works.
Surface preparation: specifying CSP rather than naming equipment
Specify the profile the surface must reach, not the machine that makes it. Naming equipment, such as shot blasting, narrows the field without guaranteeing a result, and a result is what the coating needs.
The standard is ICRI 310.2R, which defines concrete surface profile on a scale of CSP 1 to 9 with reference replicas. The specification should state the required CSP, taken from the coating manufacturer's data sheet, and allow any method that achieves it. Heavier systems generally need a more aggressive profile than thin ones, as our guide to concrete surface profile and matching the grind to the coating explains.
Add the supporting requirements: dust control and vacuum during preparation, removal of existing coatings and residue, repair of cracks and spalls to a stated method, and cleanliness before the primer. And state how profile will be verified: comparison to the CSP replicas on site, witnessed by the owner's representative before the first coat.
Acid etching should not be permitted for industrial work. It gives an inconsistent profile and leaves residue that must be neutralized, and it is widely discouraged for coating.
System build: product type, mil thickness, coats and coving
The system section defines the floor itself: the product type, the thickness of each coat, the total, and the details at walls, drains and joints. Be specific about the number that matters most, which is dry film thickness in mils.
Tie the thickness to the use. As a reference from our thickness guide, pedestrian-only areas need roughly 4 to 6 mils, light vehicle and pallet jack areas 8 to 10, forklift traffic 12 to 20 mils at minimum, and heavy manufacturing with large point loads 20 mils or more, often with a broadcast and fill system. Our guide to industrial epoxy floor thickness explains the loads behind those figures and the difference between wet and dry film. State dry mils per coat and total system dry mils, not wet.
The product description should say what you require without necessarily naming one brand. A performance-based statement covers the resin type, such as 100% solids epoxy or novolac epoxy for chemical areas, the topcoat chemistry, and the properties that matter: compressive strength, hardness, impact resistance, abrasion resistance and, where relevant, slip resistance measured by dynamic coefficient of friction under ANSI A326.3.
Include the details. Integral coving at walls and equipment bases where cleanability matters, with the height stated. Termination at drains and trenches. Treatment of control and expansion joints, with a flexible, chemical-resistant sealant where the joint moves. Striping and safety markings, with colors and widths, if they are part of the scope. Details are where verbal assumptions turn into change orders.
Cure and return to service: what the contractor must guarantee
The specification should state the cure schedule and the return-to-service times the contractor must achieve, because downtime is often the owner's biggest cost. Without it, each bidder assumes a different schedule and the low bid may be the slow one.
Cure times depend on the chemistry and the temperature. As a reference, a typical industrial epoxy system takes about three to five days from preparation through final topcoat cure, and fast-cure topcoats can allow foot traffic within hours, pallet jack traffic within 24 hours and forklift traffic within 48 to 72 hours. Write the traffic you need and when you need it, and require the contractor to state how the proposed system meets that schedule.
Include the application conditions. Substrate and air temperature ranges, relative humidity limits and the dew point margin affect both cure and finish quality, and manufacturers publish them. Say who controls the environment, for example heating, cooling or ventilation, and what happens if conditions are outside the range on the planned day.
Include the sequence for an operating facility: phased areas, working hours, protection of adjacent areas, and ventilation for fumes. Our guide on scheduling warehouse flooring installs around operations covers the planning side of this in detail.
Acceptance testing: adhesion, thickness and holiday detection
Acceptance testing tells you whether the floor you bought is the floor you got, and the specification should name each test, where it is taken, and the passing result in advance. Agreeing the pass criteria before the work starts avoids argument about whether the floor was acceptable.
Adhesion. Pull-off testing under ASTM D4541 gives a measured bond strength at nominated locations. Specify the number of tests, the locations and the minimum result, and consider accepting a failure within the concrete rather than at the bond line, since that shows the coating is stronger than the substrate. The minimum comes from the manufacturer's data sheet.
Thickness. Require wet film readings during application, which let the installer correct coverage on the spot, and a record of material quantity per area, which allows the theoretical film to be checked against the specified mils. Where a destructive or other dry film measurement is needed, state the method and the acceptable tolerance.
Holiday detection. A holiday is a pinhole or void in the film. For areas where the coating is a chemical barrier, such as containment and process areas, require testing for them and repair of any found.
Other tests. Slip resistance by DCOF where the floor is wet or ramped, visual inspection of coving, joints and terminations, and cure verification before traffic. Where the floor is static-controlled, resistance readings apply, as our guide to how ESD epoxy conducts explains.
Require a handover package with the test results, product data sheets, batch numbers and a maintenance guide. That package becomes the baseline for warranty and future repairs.
Specification checklist table, plus the clauses that cause disputes
| Specification section | What to write | Reference | What goes wrong if it is missing |
| Substrate acceptance | Soundness criteria, contamination, crack and joint treatment, who accepts the slab | ACI 302.1R | Change orders for unforeseen slab defects |
| Moisture | Test method, number of tests, threshold, remedy and who pays | ASTM F1869, F2170 | Blistering and delamination, with no one responsible |
| Surface preparation | Required CSP, dust control, verification on site | ICRI 310.2R | Bid on method, not result, and weak bond |
| System build | Resin type, dry mils per coat, total mils, coving, joints, drains | Manufacturer data sheet | Bids that are not comparable |
| Cure and return to service | Traffic dates, environmental limits, phasing | Manufacturer data sheet | Unplanned downtime |
| Warranty | Material and labor terms, exclusions, maintenance duties | Manufacturer and contractor | Gaps between the two warranties |
| Acceptance testing | Tests, locations, minimum results, who witnesses | ASTM D4541, DCOF per ANSI A326.3 | Argument over whether the floor passed |
Five clauses cause most disputes, and each is worth writing out plainly. First, who is responsible for the condition of the existing slab and who pays for remediation. Second, what happens when moisture results exceed the limit. Third, what counts as a change and how it is priced, with a stated trigger. Fourth, access, working hours and who provides utilities, temperature control and protection of adjacent work. And fifth, the warranty: as our commercial epoxy flooring cost guide notes, commercial coating warranties typically combine a manufacturer's material warranty of one to five years with a contractor's labor warranty of one to three years, so state which terms you require and what voids them, such as improper cleaning methods.
One last choice is whether to name a product. The usual answer is to write a performance requirement and list a named product as an approved equal, which keeps the bid competitive without compromising quality. Naming a single product alone tends to narrow the field and raise the price.
Frequently asked questions
What should an industrial floor coating specification include?
Substrate acceptance criteria, moisture limits with test methods named, required surface profile, the system build in mils, cure and return-to-service times, warranty terms and the acceptance tests that will be run at handover.
Should a specification name a product or a performance requirement?
Performance requirements keep the bid competitive, with a named product as an approved-equal reference. Naming one product alone tends to narrow the field and raise the price.
What moisture limit should be written into the spec?
State the test method and the threshold rather than the word dry. ASTM F1869 for vapor emission and ASTM F2170 for in-slab relative humidity give numbers that can be verified and disputed on evidence.
How is coating adhesion verified after installation?
Pull-off testing under ASTM D4541 gives a measured value at nominated locations. Specifying the test and a minimum result in advance avoids argument about whether the floor was acceptable.
Who should be responsible for the existing slab's condition?
The specification should say explicitly. Unallocated substrate risk is the most common source of change orders, so defining acceptance criteria and who pays for remediation belongs in the document.
If you are preparing a bid package, call (830) 355-3303 for a free on-site measure and written quote, or review our industrial epoxy flooring page to see the systems and the written specification we provide with every estimate.