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Paint Performance Testing: Testing and Assessment of Coatings

Introduction

If an appropriate international standard exists (and if time and money allows) we would always regard testing to this standard as the preferred method of paint assessment. Unfortunately there are only a limited number of coating-related international standards with pass/fail criteria and some of these are time-consuming and expensive to carry out.

Please visit our Coating Tests with Pass/Fail Criteria page for details.

In order to overcome this problem, we have compiled suites of test methods (mainly international but with some in-house) which we regard as a means of obtaining the maximum amount of information with the minimum expenditure of time and money.

We do not set our own pass/fail criteria so we offer the following options:-

Option 1: Client Assessment

This option is available to clients who are happy to make their own interpretation of the test results. They can submit one or more coatings with or without a reference coating.

Option 2: PRA Assessment

This option is appropriate for clients who would like us to comment on the significance of the test results and to give our opinion on the performance of the coatings tested. Experience has shown that the most effective way that we can do this is:-

• we obtain a premium brand coating of the same type as the one under test; our report does not identify the actual coating obtained.
• we test both coatings.
• we issue a report which give the results obtained from both coatings and which includes our opinion of the quality of the coating under test.

Clients can submit their own reference coating but if they provide one which they do not make or market, we ask that they re-label it as (for example) "Sample X". We do not issue reports containing the names of coatings unless they are made or marketed by the client.

 

Test Method Selection

The following table lists the coatings that we can test and assess. Each coating listed is a link which will take you to a page detailing:-

• test methods used
• cost
• time scale

For any given coating type, we test solvent and water borne variants in exactly the same way. When selecting a premium brand coating for comparison purposes however, we would normally compare solvent borne with solvent borne and water borne with water borne.

Architectural Coatings

We define these as coatings that are applied internally or externally to buildings by home owners or by professional painters. We can test and assess the following coatings:-

 

Interior Coatings	Exterior Coatings
Wood and metal	Masonry
Walls and ceilings	Wood
Kitchens and bathrooms	Metal
Radiators	Shed/Fence
Hygienic coatings for use in areas( eg food preparation, schools, hospitals) which require sterile and easily cleaned surfaces.	Decking
Floors	Roofing
	uPVC

 

Please contact Peter Collins for further details.

 

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