Surface World March 2020 Surface World March 2020 | Page 14
QUALICOAT UK & IRELAND
QUALICOAT meet in Solihull
The first QUALICOAT UK &
Ireland members meeting
of the year took place in
early February at the Arden
Hotel at Solihull. Turnout
was excellent with over
thirty members present,
representing powder coat
applicators, pretreatment
systems providers and major
powder manufacturers.
It was proposed that a separate technical
meeting would be held after the next
Qualicoat members meeting. The inaugural
technical meeting will take place after the
next members meeting which is planned
in Dublin on the 4th June.
date methods of testing are undertaken
and recorded. The next training course
is intended to take place on the 29th
September at pretreatment specialist
member, Chemetall based in Milton Keynes.
Barley Chalu have just been awarded a
QUALIDECO licence, the first in the UK.
The QUALIDECO process is based on a ‘dye
sublimation’ process, where a film containing
the image is wrapped around a base powder
coated profile. Placed in a special oven, the
image is then transferred by turning the dyes
in the film from a solid, into a gas, and then
back into a solid again on the base coated
profile, while at the same time bonding with
One of the cornerstones of the success
of the QUALICOAT specification is its clear
in-house process controls which are more
extensive than other quality standards.
Recent research is showing that the choice of
alloy and temper and the associated “tramp
element” content of aluminium may have a
bearing on the life expectancy of a coating.
A worldwide QUALICOAT working group,
made up of licence members will offer a
report and recommendations later this year.
Global member statistics for 2019 shows
that 72.7% of all independent inspections of
powder coat members were undertaken in
chrome free pretreatment plants. This figure
continues to rise as the industry moves to
more environmentally friendly chrome free
pretreatment methods.
The meeting was chaired by the associations’
new chairman, Angus Mackie, managing
director of Vertik-Al and group managing
director of the Allumette Group, who
succeeds Alan Maginnis as chairman of
QUALICOAT (UK & Ireland), effective from
the beginning of 2020.
The association welcomes powder coater
Ash & Lacy into membership. Located in the
Midlands, the company offers external
facade solutions for a wide range of
applications. Ash & Lacy now brings the total
UK applicator membership to seventeen.
Further additions are expected in 2020.
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the powder coat molecules present in the
base coating. QUALIDECO is a licensed
coating system able to replicate any finish,
such as realistic wood grains, marble/granite
effects and any other photographic images
on a powder coated base coat. More
information on this process and licenced
applicators is available on the QUALICOAT
UK & Ireland website.
As part of the QUALICOAT licensing
agreement, member’s laboratory technicians,
who monitor the powder coating process,
must attend a training/update course once
every two years to ensure that the most up to
MARCH 2020
Copies of the sixteenth edition of the
QUALICOAT Standard, is available
through the UK Association website,
www.qualicoatuki.org together with
an up-to-date list of licensed Powder
Suppliers, Pretreatment Suppliers and
Applicators. Printed literature and
telephone support is available from
QUALICOAT UK & Ireland Head Office
in Birmingham on 0330 236 2800 or
email [email protected].
The Association can also be followed
on Twitter @Qualicoatuki
read online: www.surfaceworld.com