At the end of May 2017 VIAS Ltd. has successfully passed the final procedure for acquiring the international quality sertificate QUALICOAT.
Our powder coated aluminium profiles are already officially corresponding to all the specifications set by the quality label QUALICOAT Seaside.
QUALICOAT is an international quality label organisation, committed to maintaining and promoting the quality of coating on aluminium and its alloys for architectural applications.
Working on behalf of the customers who have their products coated, QUALICOAT defines comprehensive quality requirements and monitors their compliance by numerous licensed plants all over the world. This gives to the purchasers of coated aluminium the assurance that they will receive a premium-quality product.
QUALICOAT has established specifications, defining the minimum requirements for plant and equipment, coating materials and finished products. All requirements in the Specifications must be met before a quality label can be granted to the producer.
The new optional Seaside Class offers unparallelled quality assurance when used in conjunction with the normal Qualicoat specification and the European norm 12206-1:2004. Seaside class offers a more intensive pre-treatment process which provides better results for aluminium profiles used in coastal regions.
There are two issues which determinethe life expectancy of powder coating within these regions:
Abrasion due to airborne sand particles
The increased level of pollutants, such as salts, in the athmosphere
Whilst polyester powder coating is a strong and long lasting durable finish in most climates, the presence of additional airborne particles such as silica have an abrasive effect on the surface finish. The level of abrasion increases the nearer to the coast the material is situated and also depends on the coastal topography.
Seaside Class is recognised by a deeper etching of the aluminium. For standard pretreatment, the total etching is specified as being at least 1.0 g/m2, when ‘Seaside Class’ is specified an enhanced pretreatment etch of at least 2.0 g/m2 is required, that is 2 g/m2 of aluminium surface removed. This deeper etch removes more surface contaminants on the aluminium and offers both better protection of the substrate and key for the powder coating. QUALICOAT coating members offering this enhanced Seaside Class are denoted by the qualification on the QUALICOAT website.
