Preparing the specification for polyester powder coating will normally be the architect’s responsibility after the colour has been agreed with the client. The choice of colour should be clear and without ambiguity to ensure there is no confusion.
Polyester powder coaters won’t often get involved in the specification process for the colour. However the specialist powder coater will be able to advise the architect if needed about the suitability of the powder for the particular application or whether any special guarantees need to be applied.
The powder coater will also help the architect in the case of any special finishes such as metallics.
Most tender documents will only have the architect’s specification to work with. The Z31 specification is typically used with regards to polyester powder coating but even here the right standards need to be adhered to. Typically polyester powder coating must comply with the requirements of BS6496 and BS EN 12206-1. To avoid any confusion only one standard should be including in any architect or project specification.
In substantial projects where the tender process can result in differences in pricing it is vital that all parties submitting a tender for their particular scope of works are all working to the same specification. Some companies may choose to deviate from the specification in order to provide a cheaper price, but this practice only serves to result in different tender prices and could suggest that quality or workmanship will be compromised.
Therefore it is important that tender documents are strictly adhered to.
This is important as an architect may have clearly stated in his powder coating specifications the life expectancy for a building, the length of guarantee required on any material that is powder coated as well as specifying either who the powder coater is to be or from what powder the coating is to be done with.
After the tender process and when contracts are being awarded for a building, attempting to break the specification of a project is bad practice.
With the vast majority of trades involved in the construction of a building being sub contractors, the architect will have done all the work in preparing a detailed and accurate specification. However as the architect will rarely be aware of exactly who is completing the work here the risk of having his detailed specification breaking is far greater. The supply chain in construction can be quite long and therefore the risk of having specification broken is increased.
The main contractor whilst doing his best to adhere to a specification will trust their subcontractor to meet it. So what can you do about this?
In the case of polyester powder coating it is very important to use a powder coater that is Qualicoat Approved and a member of the Aluminium Finishing Association. Membership of these stringent organisations ensures that polyester power coating is always carried out to the highest standard.
Here at Superior Paint and Powder Coating, we often work with substantial construction projects and work with all parties concerned to ensure that any architect specification is strictly adhered to. How do we do this?
Inspections of our powder coating plant are often carried out by architects and others involved in a construction project. With these inspections, they can monitor the quality of our coatings whether this is done directly by the architect or an independent inspector.
We can provide test samples of the finished aluminium profile that can then be verified for quality of the coating, thickness of the paint to the correct microns and that the overall coating process is being carried out in accordance with the relevant British and European Standards, Qualicoat and the Aluminium Finishing Association.