Qualicoat UK & Ireland's History

Chairpersons of the association:

2001 - 2003        Terry Chalu, Barley Chalu Ltd

2004 - 2005        Miles Lock, Vertik-Al Ltd

2006 - 2007        Douglas McAllister, MSP (Scotland) Ltd

2008  -2009        Paul McCarthy, APA Systems Ltd

2010  -2013        Mo Panam, Barley Chalu Ltd

2014 - 2019        Alan Maginnis, Sprint Coatings Ltd

2019 - present    Angus Mackie, Verik-Al Ltd

 

Qualicoat's first press release in 2001

A Major Initiative to Raise Quality Standards in Architectural Finishing

In January 2001 QUALICOAT UK & Ireland was established in the UK and the inaugural meeting has just been held. QUALICOAT UK & Ireland is the latest national association of the international quality label – QUALICOAT. QUALICOAT is an organisation dedicated to maintaining and promoting the quality of painting on aluminium for architectural applications. Working in close co-operation with the Aluminium Finishing Association (AFA) and under the umbrella of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED), QUALICOAT UK & Ireland is the latest initiative from the powder coaters and powder manufacturers in the United Kingdom to promote awareness of the importance of high quality finishing in the architectural industry.

Goals of QUALICOAT:

• To attain the goals of the organisation, QUALICOAT endeavours especially
• To harmonise European quality standards for processes applied in the architectural coating industry
• To develop and improve these standards
• To enforce independently the standards in coating plants
• To establish quality labels based on these standards, to protect the standards with international trademarks and to maintain the standards
• To grant licenses to use the quality label to recognised national associations or directly to firms in countries without a national association
• To issue uniform instructions to the licensed associations or firms

 

Who benefits from QUALICOAT?

• Participation in the organisation and co-operation with licensed plants benefits everyone concerned:
• Customers receive coatings that meet a clearly defined quality standard with a long-term performance.
• Licensed plants have a distinct advantage in competitive tendering
• Architects and building owners are sure they get long-term value from their architecture.
• In summary the whole market profits from associations and plants being members of QUALICOAT

 

Commenting on his election as the first Chair of QUALICOAT UK Terry Chalu of Barley Chalu Ltd commented: “The setting up of QUALICOAT UK is the latest step by the UK architectural finishing industry to raise standards. The AFA has long been promoting the importance of quality. QUALICOAT UK is another way of both regulating coaters and suppliers and gives architects another tool at their disposal to ensure they get what they specify. The finish is one of the most important visual elements of any building.  Architects invest a great deal of time ensuring their building has the desired aesthetic and functional appearance through colour and finish.  High quality aluminium finishes create good initial impact and long term satisfaction.  Sadly, complacency and ignorance can lead to the architect’s dream being destroyed.  If the applied finish is poor it can quickly ruin a building’s appearance and perhaps an architect’s reputation. By using the independent and random testing programme of QUALICOAT the finisher must pay attention to quality at all times”.

 

History of the QUALICOAT Organisation:

History of QUALICOAT: In 1986 several national associations encompassing coaters of architectural parts formed the QUALICOAT organisation. Their goal was to raise and standardise the quality level throughout Europe, laying down rules applying to their industry. Firms in many European countries have directly or indirectly become members of QUALICOAT.

The aluminium industry is represented by delegates on the committees from the outset. This ensured information sharing among wrought aluminium producers and coaters. Today our members besides many European countries also include an Australian association, an association of Southern Africa and producers of coating materials in Asia, America and Europe. Membership is open to all national associations of coaters, EAA, and producers of paints, powders, dyes and chemical products.

Powder coatings: The fastest growth sector of the global industrial finishes market.  Powder coatings are free from solvent and other volatile organic content (VOC’s) and therefore their industrial finishing applications have a low impact on the environment when compared to traditional solvent-based coating.  Powder coatings are electrostatically applied to the work-pieces which are then normally cured in an oven at temperatures between 180-200oC.  They provide tough, durable coatings which, because they have been chemically cross-linked during curing, are inherently resistant to mechanical and chemical attack.  Powder coatings are supplied to industrial finishers in a host of colours, gloss levels, textures, metallics and other special effect finishes, just like the paints that preceded them.  In particular architectural powder coatings, first used in the 1970’s, have become established as the first choice for architectural finishing in Europe.