Practical exams · CIP 1 · CIP 2 · FROSIO
The practical exams, station by station
Each of the three certifications ends in a practical exam at instrument stations. You read real instruments against a clock, and a wrong reading costs points that theory cannot win back. Below are the stations of each exam and a free simulation to try.
The simulations here are on screen. They train the steps, the readings and the timing; they do not replace hands-on practice with real instruments. The practical simulations are new: if a reading or a step looks wrong, write to [email protected], and we check every report.
CIP Level 1: eight stations, 100 points
On the last day of the CIP Level 1 course you sit a closed-book practical: eight instrument stations, up to 10 minutes each, then 10 minutes for calculations and checking without the instruments.
| Station | Points | What you do with the instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental test | 20 | Read a psychrometer and a surface thermometer, find relative humidity and dew point, decide whether coating may proceed |
| Anchor pattern: comparators and replica tape | 20 | Grade a profile against a comparator; read replica tape with a spring micrometer |
| High-voltage DC holiday detector | 10 | Set and check the test voltage; find holidays in a coating |
| Coating thickness: magnetic pull-off gauge (Type I) | 10 | Check the gauge on a coated standard, take the base metal reading, read a dial and correct the spot |
| Wet-sponge low-voltage holiday detector | 10 | Prepare the sponge and find holidays in a thin film |
| Wet film thickness gauge | 5 | Read a notch gauge and relate the wet film to the dry film |
| Coating thickness: constant-pressure probe gauge (Type II) | 20 | Verify the gauge, then form spots and an area average |
| Soluble salts | 5 | Measure conductivity from a patch extraction and convert it |
Three stations, environmental, anchor pattern and the Type II gauge, carry 60 of the 100 points. The practical can only be retaken by registering for the course again, so it pays to arrive fluent. Details and sources: how to get CIP Level 1.
Try a CIP Level 1 station: surface profile
Each simulation gives a new scenario, a clock and feedback on every answer.
CIP Level 2: eight stations, 100 points
The CIP Level 2 practical is also closed book: eight stations on the last day of the course, at most 8 minutes each. The instruments move from the basics to the tools of a senior inspector.
| Station | Points |
|---|---|
| Paint Inspection Gauge | 15 |
| Coating thickness over a non-metallic substrate | 10 |
| Pull-off adhesion | 15 |
| Concrete guidelines | 10 |
| Durometer hardness | 10 |
| Eddy-current DFT gauge | 20 |
| Surface contaminant testing | 10 |
| Environmental testing | 10 |
The eddy-current gauge carries the most points, and the Paint Inspection Gauge and pull-off together carry 30. What changed in the Level 2 exam: CIP Level 2 in 2026.
Try a CIP Level 2 station: Paint Inspection Gauge
FROSIO: a 4-hour practical, 48 points
FROSIO publishes the rules of its practical, not a list of stations. The exam takes 4 hours and gives 48 points, and 32 points pass. Each candidate starts at the first free station, one candidate at each station. Training bodies set up the stations from the methods the FROSIO book teaches. One of them lists these 15 for its course:
- Rust grades and preparation grades
- Corrosion types
- Climate: psychrometer, dew point, magnetic thermometer
- Surface roughness with ISO comparators
- Cross-cut and X-cut adhesion
- Zinc silicate cure
- Paint identification by solvent test
- Soluble salts (Bresle)
- Low-voltage holiday detection
- High-voltage holiday detection
- Paint defects
- Pull-off adhesion, ISO 4624
- DFT on a rough surface, ISO 19840
- Paint Inspection Gauge
- Daily log
FROSIO does not publish the stations of an exam, so an exam can differ from this list. Because FROSIO gives no points by station, the CoatMentor practical mock counts every station equally and reports one total out of 48, with 32 as a reference line. More about the scheme: what is the FROSIO exam.
Try a FROSIO station: rust and preparation grades
Every station comes with its track: 8 for CIP Level 1, 8 for CIP Level 2 and the 15 course stations for FROSIO, each with a full practical mock on the exam's clock, along with timed mocks, worked explanations and a plan to your exam date.
See the tracksTake the free readiness checkRelated: surface profile · dew point · DFT measurement · holiday testing · soluble salts · adhesion testing. CoatMentor is not affiliated with AMPP or FROSIO; the simulations are our own and use no exam material.