What is BS EN 13438 – Powder organic coatings for construction products about?
BS EN 13438 is a European Standard that discusses paints and varnishes. The object of BS EN 13438 is to ensure powder organic coatings for steel products used for construction purposes play a positive role in the performance and service-life of your engineering works.
BS EN 13438 specifies performance requirements for organic coating powders and powder organic coatings as applied to finished articles (hot-dip galvanized or sherardized steel products) for construction purposes. Hot-dip galvanized steel products can be articles that have been batch hot-dip galvanized (hot-dip galvanized after fabrication) or articles consisting of continuously hot-dip galvanized sheet which is then subsequently fabricated.
BS EN 13438 does not set out any performance requirements for the powder coating process itself. Guidance on cleaning and pretreatment of the hot-dip galvanized or sherardized steel products prior to powder coating is provided.
BS EN 13438 does not apply to articles with zinc-aluminium coatings or aluminium-zinc coatings, or to continuously hot-dip galvanized wire. This standard does not apply to organic coating powders and powder organic coatings as applied to hot-dip galvanized or sherardized steel products (i.e. duplex coated articles) for which there are specific standards, which might include additional requirements or requirements which are different from those of this standard.
Who is BS EN 13438 - Powder organic coatings for construction products for?
BS EN 13438 on powder organic coatings for construction products is relevant to:
- Powder organic coating manufacturers
- Specifiers, designers, applicators, fabricators, galvanisers and sherardiser
- Aerospace and aircraft industry
- Construction industry
- Marine and transportation industry
Why should you use BS EN 13438 - Powder organic coatings for construction products?
BS EN 13438 has been produced as a result of the growing demand for products made of powder coated hot dip galvanised or sherardised steel. These products offer a combination of corrosion resistance and decorative appearance.
BS EN 13438 has been written from a coating performance perspective. In order to facilitate production of the best quality powder coated hot dip galvanised or sherardised articles, experience has shown how important it is that sufficient dialogue between the client, specifier, designer, fabricator, galvaniser or sherardiser and powder coating applicator takes place at the earliest stages of the project and that, where possible, timescales set out for processing of the work are practical and adhered to.
BS EN 13438 provides you with coating powder requirements to assess the performance of organic coating powders when applied to finished construction components where long-term performance is important.
Overall, BS EN 13438 can help you improve the coating performance of powder-coated hot-dip galvanized or sherardized steel products and enhance its durability and service-life.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 13438:2013 supersedes BS EN 13438:2005 which is withdrawn. BS EN 13438:2013 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN 13438:2005. These include:
- The term defined as "test sample" has been removed
- A new term "substrate" has been introduced
- A paragraph in Clause 4 includes references to EN ISO 14713-2 and EN ISO 14713-3 to optimize design of articles sent for processing to BS EN 13438
- Tolerance limits on gloss requirements have been tightened slightly for gloss levels over 50 units (reduce from ± 10 units to ± 7 units) and "Table 1  Gloss requirements" removed
- Clause 6 has been edited to clarify references to "cleaning" as distinct from "preparation" or "pretreatment"
