Quality Coat of Many Colours

The new Bodycote testing centre in Manchester was the venue for the recent Qualicoat members meeting. Opened just six months ago, the state of the art laboratory offers a wide range of testing facilities for architectural coatings amongst other materials. As an independent organisation, Bodycote undertakes regular audits of Qualicoat Members to ensure their facilities and quality meet the Qualicoat international standard.

During the meeting the new 'Seaside' specification was discussed; this is a new standard that can be specified for locations near to coastal waters. Discussion also took place on the new environmental standards included in 'Reach' and the new soil and water directives that are due out soon. The meeting was concluded with an extensive tour of the Bodycote facility where members were shown the powder coating testing facility and further test areas which included general engineering and service pipe testing.

Bodycote are a rapidly growing British company who are operating in the Global materials testing arena. One of their recent acquisitions was that of the 'Warrington Fire Research Centre'.

Qualicoat membership continues to increase as the UK coaters recognise that this is an international standard for powder coating and is accepted by most countries across the globe. Qualicoat UK & Ireland have a seat on the Qualicoat board which regularly meets in Zurich. As in any association, the standard is driven by its membership; by continually increasing the quality of architectural coating materials and by raising the powder coating quality, the standard is now widely recognised.

NBS have recognised the standard which now features in their Z31 specification to building specifiers.

Further information can be found at www.qualicoatuki.org and is updated frequently with news and new advice on powder coating practice. Literature and advice is available from Qualicoat Head Office on 0121 601 6746.