When it stops passing
Repair, recoat, or replace: what ANSI/ESD STM7.1 tells you
A floor that failed a retest has not automatically failed for good. The right answer depends entirely on why it failed, and the three causes have very different price tags. Find the cause before anybody quotes a replacement.
Repair and recoat
First find out what actually changed
Point to point and point to ground readings under STM7.1 separate a floor problem from a grounding problem[2]. If point to point is fine and point to ground is not, the coating is not your issue.
A surface layer can often just come off
Wax or a floor finish sitting on top of the system is the cheapest failure there is. Removing it and retesting can put a floor straight back in band with no coating work at all.
Worn lanes can be recoated
Where the failure is abrasion in traffic lanes, a recoat over sound existing system is often viable. It depends on adhesion, thickness left, and whether the existing system is compatible with what goes over it.
Debonding means going back further
If the system is lifting, the problem is usually underneath: slab moisture or prep that never keyed properly. Recoating over a debonding floor buys months, not years.
Grounding gets disturbed by other trades
A ground connection cut or covered by later work is common and easily missed, because the floor itself is untouched and looks fine.
Get the retest documented either way
Whatever the fix, the readings before and after are what your program and your auditor actually want[17].
Questions
Can an ESD floor be recoated rather than replaced?
Often, where the existing system is sound and well bonded and the failure is wear rather than debonding. It depends on what is down, how much thickness is left, and compatibility. Send us the readings and photos and we will tell you which case you are in.
Our floor passes point to point but fails point to ground.
That points at the ground path rather than the coating. A connection disturbed by other work is the common cause, and it is a far smaller job than a floor replacement[2].
Is a partial repair acceptable to an auditor?
What an auditor wants is a floor that measures inside the specified band with the readings to prove it, plus a reverification schedule[17]. How you got there matters less than the evidence.