The invention concerns a method and an installation for inspecting the surface of a coiled metal strip, wherein a coil to be inspected (2) is unwound along a moving plane so as to cause at least part of the strip to move from a position for inspecting at least one of the surfaces. According to the invention, it consists in moving the part (20) of the strip to be inspected along a substantially vertical inspection plane (P), between an unwinding device (3) and a winding device (4) arranged on two vertically spaced apart levels (11, 13) on either side of an intermediate inspection level (12). Thus, the inspection can be visually performed on both surfaces (23, 24) of the strip by an operator 0 moving on a floor at the intermediate inspection level (12).