North Coast
Inspection Services
North Coast Inspection Services Ltd. is an independent third-party protective coatings inspection consultancy providing quality assurance oversight and defensible inspection documentation for asset owners and project clients across British Columbia and Western Canada.
Independent. Structured. Defensible.
NCIS was established to address a gap in the protective coatings inspection market: the absence of structured, governance-based inspection services that go beyond credential-based compliance checking. The market standard is to compete on individual certifications. NCIS competes on the strength of its systems.
Every NCIS engagement is governed by a formal Quality Management System and an integrated Safety Management System. Inspection activities are conducted using the NCIS Inspection Evidence Framework — a structured, repeatable workflow that ensures every observation is traceable, every measurement is calibrated, and every report is audit-ready.
NCIS serves asset owners, project managers, and engineers who require independent, third-party inspection oversight that is structured for project close-out, warranty support, and dispute resolution — not simply for field presence.
View Inspection Methodology
British Columbia and Western Canada. NCIS operates as a field-based inspection consultancy, mobilizing to project sites across the region. Enquiries from outside the primary service region are considered on a project-by-project basis.
Thomas Gordon
Thomas Gordon is the Founder and Technical Lead of North Coast Inspection Services Ltd., and holds the AMPP Certified Coatings Inspector (CIP) Level 3 certification — the highest level of AMPP coating inspection certification. As a Senior Coatings Inspection Consultant, Thomas provides structured advisory support and technical governance across all NCIS inspection engagements.
Thomas holds primary responsibility for NCIS technical governance, inspection methodology, and QMS integration. He defines and maintains the NCIS Inspection Evidence Framework, the IR-Series inspection conventions, and the NCIS Model Registry. His approach to inspection is characterized by a conservative, evidence-first methodology: surface preparation verification, environmental monitoring, DFT and WFT measurement, cure verification, and audit-ready inspection record delivery.
Thomas enforces Record-before-Report discipline, Level of Service alignment, and safety integration on every NCIS engagement. He mandates traceability, calibration evidence, inspector qualifications, and human sign-off for all technical and contractual acceptance decisions. This governance-first approach ensures that NCIS inspection records are suitable for project close-out, warranty support, and dispute resolution — not simply for field presence.
Thomas's primary specialization is marine and shipyard protective coatings inspection, with extensive experience across drydock programs, marine pile corrosion mitigation, coastal structural steel, and shipyard maintenance in British Columbia. He also provides inspection services for infrastructure rehabilitation and industrial asset coating projects across Western Canada.
Professional Credentials
AMPP Certified Coatings Inspector, Level 3 (formerly NACE CIP). The highest level of AMPP coating inspection certification, demonstrating advanced competency in protective coatings inspection, failure analysis, and quality assurance.
Extensive field experience across marine, infrastructure, and industrial asset coating projects in British Columbia and Western Canada. Specialist expertise in structured inspection methodology, QMS integration, and audit-ready documentation.
NCIS operates under a formal Quality Management System (QMS) and an integrated Safety Management System (SMS). All inspection engagements are governed by these systems, ensuring consistent, traceable, and defensible inspection delivery.
Governing Principles
The following principles govern every NCIS inspection engagement. They are not aspirational — they are operational requirements applied on every project.
NCIS operates exclusively on behalf of asset owners and project clients. Independence from contractors and coating manufacturers is a non-negotiable condition of every engagement. Findings are objective, evidence-based, and governed by the applicable specification.
Observations must be recorded before they can be reported. Every NCIS inspection record is created at the time of the inspection activity, not reconstructed after the fact. This principle is the foundation of defensible inspection documentation.
NCIS does not imply compliance or acceptance without reference to governing criteria. Every observation is classified as a verification, a nonconformance, or a recommendation — and each is documented with the specification clause that governs it.
Technical and contractual acceptance decisions require human review and sign-off. No inspection finding, measurement, or report is treated as an acceptance decision without qualified inspector review and documented authorization.
Inspection Domains
Thomas Gordon's technical competency spans the full scope of protective coatings inspection activities, from pre-construction specification review through to final acceptance documentation and coating failure investigation.
Engage NCIS for Your Project
Contact Thomas Gordon directly to discuss your inspection requirements.