‘Qualicoat Meet at MacDermid’

The first members meeting of 2012 was held at pre-treatment specialists MacDermid in Birmingham. Held on 8th March, membership was represented by almost 40 delegates for the main business meeting.

MacDermid specialise in protective coatings for a wide range of industries which also includes automotive products. As a member of Qualicoat UK & Ireland, MacDermid supply a range of systems which pretreat architectural aluminium prior to powder coating.

One of the main focuses of the meeting was the draft Qualicoat specification, version 13, this will replace the current version later in 2012. The current specification is freely available for download from the association’s website. There are a number of changes to the process to further enhance the durability of powder coating as well as pulling together many of the update sheets to the current standard. The standard continues to offer specifiers of architectural powder coating complete compliance with all current national standards and regulations.

High on the agenda was the forthcoming technical conference which is to be held on Wednesday, 20th June at the National Metalforming Centre in West Bromwich, close to Junction 1 of the M5. The conference is open to anyone who is involved in the specification of architectural aluminium finishes. Qualicoat UK and Ireland expect to have delegates present from systems companies, facade specialists, specifiers and main contractors. Further information will be available shortly on the associations website.

Other technical matters included discussion with the European Aluminium Association (EAA) and its membership to recommend further tightening the tolerances for ‘free elements’ being present within aluminium. These free elements can bring about corrosion known as ‘filiform corrosion’. The EAA were invited to their first Qualicoat Aluminium Working Group on the 22nd March to discuss these issues and agree the most suitable aluminium alloys for coating for long term sustainability.

On the topic of membership, there are a further 5 potential members who are seeking membership of Qualicoat UK & Ireland. Companies are invited to join once they can demonstrate that they have the minimum required plant and undertake the correct specified testing procedures as outlined in the Qualicoat standard. This data is collected on visits made to the interested companies by Qualicoat's independent texting company EXOVA based in Manchester.

Copies of the Qualicoat standard are available through the UK association website together with an up to date list of manufacturers and applicators at www.qualicoatuki.org. Printed literature and telephone support is available from Qualicoat UK & Ireland’s Head Office in Birmingham on 0121 601 6746.

Qualicoat UK & Ireland
The National Metalforming Centre
47 Birmingham Road
West Bromwich
B70 6PY