It’s with great excitement that Opus International Consultant and NZ representative on Joint Technical Committee MT-014/02 can report that the long-awaited revision to the 2002 ‘Guide to the Protection of Structural Steel Against Atmospheric Corrosion by the Use of Protective Coatings’ was published last Friday 19 December.
The revision is now in three Parts:
- AS/NZS 2312.1 Part 1: Paint Coatings
- AS/NZS 2312.2 Part 2: Hot Dip Galvanizing
- AS/NZS 2312.3 Part 3: Thermally Sprayed Metallic Coatings (in preparation)
All three parts are aligned with the relevant Australian and New Zealand corrosivity standards, i.e. AS 4312-2008 and Section 5 of NZS 3404.1:2009. Part 1 covers only liquid-applied paints whose main purpose is corrosion mitigation. It contains much of the information that was included in AS/NZS 2312:2002 with the following main changes.
Section 5 which covered metallic coatings has been deleted, Section 7 on coating selection has been moved to Section 5, Section 8 which covered powder coatings and tapes has been edited and moved to Appendix H, and Section 13 which covered health and safety has been deleted.
Part 1 has updated recommended coating systems and deleted some rarely used and problematic ones. Additional information is provided on contentious issues such as fabrication defects and warranties. Part 2 completely replaces and updates the previous Section 5 on hot dip galvanizing (HDG) and is closely aligned to the ISO 14713 series of guides for zinc coatings.
Also covered in Part 2 are mechanically plated and electrodeposited coatings, and ‘duplex systems’ where organic paint is applied to HDG.
Part 3 (which will replace Section 5.2 Metal Spray Coatings in AS/NZS 2312:2002) has yet to be finalised, in part due to the delay in completing the revision of ISO 2063.