Ingress of deleterious agents from the environment causes deterioration of concrete and loss of its durability. Since the takes place through the surface, characteristics of the near surface concrete has become an important issue on recent years. The permeation characteristics of near surface concrete are greatly responsible for concrete durability. Tests available for assessment of permeation characteristics such as Initial surface Absorption, Figg Permeation and Covercrete Absorption are discussed in the introductory part of this paper.