Paint Booth Installation Checklist & Guide

When you’re a manufacturer, auto body shop, or hobbyist considering a paint booth one critical aspect of potentially purchasing a paint booth is a process to follow when installing your paint booth. This article will cover proper steps to consider when installing a paint booth so that the process is as smooth as possible.

Steps to take Prior to Paint Booth Installation

Before purchasing a paint booth their will be a variety of pre planning steps to take to ensure that you have coordinated with proper safety officials and ensure you cover important regulations that relate to paint booths.

Contact Your State Environmental Protection Agency Office

Each state has a department dedicated to environmental protection.  You will want to contact them to let them know your plans to install a paint booth.  The environmental protection office for your state will typically have paperwork that they will ask you to fill out to estimate the amount of volatile organic compounds that you will potentially generate in your proposed painting process. Depending on the volume you will generate the state may require specific additional steps.  Due to environmental regulations varying slightly in each state there is no general broad answer to what your state will require but coordinating with the state environmental agency will allow you to properly prepare for the booth. You can find a full listing of EPA offices in all states here.

Contact Your Building Inspector

A building inspector is important to notify of the potential of adding a new paint booth as well. Depending on the status of your facility and a variety of factors the building inspector could have specific additional requirements that go beyond the general paint booth requirements, or if you are planning on your paint booth installation being in a new facility you will have to coordinate with the building inspector to coordinate obtaining a occupancy permit.

Contact Your Local Authority Having Jurisdiction (Usually the Fire Marshall)

Reputable paint booth manufacturers design their paint booths to match all national standards like OSHA, NFPA 33, and the International Building Code.  However, the local authority can have additional requirements that they require to be met. By coordinating with the authority having jurisdiction you can properly pre plan to meet any of these special requirements. You can also ensure that any special requirements do not make the price of paint booth installation cost prohibitive in your instance. The local authority will also help you in selecting a paint booth fire suppression system. While you can learn about general requirements of paint booth fire suppression here your local authority will be the one who upholds rules and regulations.

Contact Your Insurance Provider

Your insurance provider will typically want to reassess your company after installation of a paint booth but can be good to notify them prior to installation so you know any specific steps they want you to take. If you did not have a paint booth but were painting this can result in cost reduction. Otherwise, your insurance provider may want to adjust costs up to cover painting.

Additional Steps to take prior to paint booth installation

After coordinating with proper state and local authorities that will help with permits and similar requirements, you may need to also coordinate with your roof installer. This is particularly applicable if your paint booth installation will require a roof penetration and your roof has a license and bond. Having someone other than the roof installer penetrate the roof can result in voiding of your roof’s warranty, working with the roof installer in the situation where you roof is bonded will prevent this from being an issue. Finally, you will want to have verification of the voltage and phase you will have available because most paint booths will work with a variety of electrical supply depending on your needs but to ensure they work right you want to match the electrical supply to your fan prior to paint booth installation. Finally, if you will be using a paint booth installer you will want to verify if they require utilities to be within a certain distance from the paint booth.  By considering these factors you will be more aware of the potential total cost of the paint booth.

Tips and Tools to Make Paint Booth Installation Easier

After you have all the pertinent permits and people notified you will then proceed to evaluate and choose who helps you with your paint booth. If you choose to install a paint booth on your own the following tools will make your job easier.

• A few electric drills with a socket adapter or if not a nut and bolt design just standard electric drills with screw driver adapter. These electric drills will let you quickly tighten down nut and bolts from one side eliminating the need to hold both sides of the bolt.
• Thin metal pry bar or something similar – Having small bars that one end will fit in a paint booth hole allows for easier manipulation of the paint booth walls when your lining up parts of the booth during installation.
• Step Ladders – Step ladders will allow you to position yourself high enough off the floor and provide working height
• An Aerial Lift – An aerial lift will provide the height you will need to easily secure the exhaust fan and exhaust duct to the paint booth
• Concrete Fasteners – After completion of booth installation you will want concrete fasteners to secure the paint booth floor flange into the floor of your facility
• Parts Aprons – An apron to wrap around your waist that has 3 pockets allows for storage of multiple nuts and bolts (the main fastening device for paint booths) and makes installation a lot quicker

The key to success if installing the spray booth on your own is to take your time to ensure you are placing all panels according to the original design, this will prevent the need to potentially remove a part of the booth after completion.

Steps to take After Paint Booth Installation

After installation of your paint booth you will typically need to coordinate with a fire suppression company. The pre coordination with the fire marshal and even the fire suppression company will ensure you select a paint booth fire suppression system that meets the requirements in your area.

After completion of installation of your paint booth and fire suppression system you will typically have a few additional sight visits. Typically you will want to speak to your insurance provider as they will typically want to evaluate the paint booth installation for any concerns. You will also want to ensure that the state department of environmental protection is aware of the booth and ensure your permits have been properly obtained. Your local fire authority may want to do a quick review to ensure all safety measures have been taken. Finally, your state OSHA office can be important to notify as well so that they know any additional risks that may be present after adding a paint booth.

Ultimately paint booth installation requires a lot of steps but allows you to have a safe, code a compliant place to paint.  By coordinating with the authorities mentioned both before, during, and after a paint booth installation project, you can ensure you have met proper safety requirements and be able to paint.  If needed we offer paint booth installation services across the country.  If you have questions you can contact us here.