Specifies a method for assessing the adhesion of a single coating or a multi-coat system of a coating material by measuring the minimum tensile stress necessary to detach or to rupture the coating in a direction perpendicular to the substrate. The test may be applied using a wide range of substrates. Different procedures are specified according to whether the substrate is deformable, for example sheet metal or plastics, or rigid, for example thick concrete. The result is the minimum tensile stress necessary to breack the weakest interface (adhesive failure) or the weakest component (cohesive failure).