Cistern Relining Project Brief: Prepare for an Assessment
A useful relining enquiry gives an assessor enough information to identify the next investigation. It does not need to pretend that every crack, dimension and coating layer is already understood.
Use this project brief to organize what you know before requesting a cistern assessment or comparing proposals. Copy the headings into your own document and mark missing information as “unknown.” The brief is a planning aid, not a tank inspection, structural assessment or authorization to enter or empty the tank.
1. Identify the tank and the water service
Give the cistern a consistent name or asset number. Include the location, owner or operator contact, and the person authorized to discuss operational changes. Note whether the tank is above ground, partly buried or fully buried, and identify the construction material from reliable records rather than appearance alone.
Fields to complete: tank identifier; location; construction material; approximate age; known capacity; source of each fact; present water source; present uses; proposed future uses.
Describe uses specifically. “Water storage” may mean drinking-water supply, irrigation or a reserve serving a different function. Record shared uses and any required reserve that cannot simply be removed from service. If the intended use is changing, make that visible at the beginning of the enquiry.
2. List the records you already hold
Collect drawings, prior inspection reports, repair invoices, lining product names, installation dates and available photographs. Keep the original files, with a short index identifying what each contains. A remembered brand name is a lead to investigate, not confirmation of the installed system.
Fields to complete: drawing reference and revision; prior liner or coating; repair history; earlier structural advice; previous cleaning information; water-quality records relevant to the proposed work.
Where drinking-water contact is intended, include the exact proposed product and certification information for review. NSF describes NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 as a health-effects standard for substances imparted to water by system materials. It is not a structural or service-life guarantee. Our certification guide explains the questions to take to the supplier and certifier.
3. Describe the observed problem without diagnosing it
Use dates and locations: where water appeared, when a level changed, or which area of lining was reported to be loose. Distinguish your own observations from a contractor’s earlier conclusion. If the evidence is a photograph, keep its date and the location it depicts.
Fields to complete: first noticed; current frequency; affected location; operating conditions at the time; related maintenance or weather events; photographs available; areas not observed.
Do not enter the tank, remove a cover or disturb the lining to complete this worksheet. Use existing records and observations available from a safe, authorized position. Tank entry needs a separate, site-specific safety assessment and competent personnel; see OSHA’s confined-space overview. For unexplained level changes, begin with our water-loss record guide.
4. Separate capacity from the surface to be lined
A nominal storage volume does not tell an estimator the complete lining area. Provide available interior drawings showing shape, compartments and fixed features. Label dimensions as recorded, approximate or still to be verified. Identify whether the proposed work includes the roof underside, access neck, partitions and other internal surfaces.
Fields to complete: drawing source; dimensions and confidence; compartments; proposed lining boundaries; inaccessible surfaces; known fittings or penetrations.
Do not climb in to measure. Leave missing dimensions for an authorized survey. See Cistern Coating Quantities for the distinction between storage volume and coating area.
5. Explain the operating and access constraints
State the period when an outage could be considered, who depends on the supply, and whether an alternative supply has actually been arranged. Identify site access restrictions and known limits on equipment staging. Avoid promising an empty tank on a particular date before the responsible parties have reviewed the implications.
Fields to complete: operating contact; requested work window; affected users; alternative supply status; site access; staging restrictions; responsibilities still unassigned.
Use the outage-planning guide and, for buried storage, the review before emptying a buried cistern. This brief deliberately does not prescribe draining, dewatering or entry procedures.
6. Ask for the acceptance and handover scope
Request a proposal that identifies the installed system, preparation and repair assumptions, inspection responsibilities, return-to-service requirements and documents to be handed over. Ask what remains conditional on the initial assessment and how changes will be approved.
Fields to complete: technical decision-maker; required submittals; inspection and testing responsibilities; water-quality review; release authority; handover records.
If laboratory work will be needed, our water-testing planning guide helps organize that conversation before the outage.
Compare proposals against the same brief
Give each prospective contractor the same dated version and share subsequent clarifications consistently. Compare included work, exclusions, unresolved investigations and responsibility for each stage alongside price. A low figure based on an uninspected structure is not directly comparable with a proposal that includes investigation and defined repair allowances.
Keep a short list of unanswered questions with an owner for each. The immediate outcome may be a site assessment rather than a final lining quote. That is useful progress when it turns unknown conditions into an agreed scope.