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SSPC 2017 featuring GreenCOAT is about two-and-a-half months away, but that doesn’t mean contractors shouldn’t start planning to attend. Looking ahead, the reality is that when you account for the holiday season, there are actually fewer than 10 full working weeks before the conference.
Events at the SSPC conference in recent years have demonstrated that being in the room at key meetings is an important part of making sure that your voice is heard and your position is represented on the coatings industry’s hot-button technical issues of the day. Again, another reality: the SSPC conference is where those discussions take place. If you’re not there, you’re simply not part of the process.
Many standards committees will hold meetings at the SSPC show. Standards that are being created, revised and updated will be center stage at these meetings and the opportunity to provide input for some of them will be ending soon. These standards will directly affect the projects that you work on — and in turn, affect your livelihood. You and your company will need to live with these standards when written into future contracts. The best way to register your views is to be present and participate!
The standards revisions that are on tap for SSPC 2017 are listed in Table 1. In addition, standards that will be under development at SSPC 2017 are listed in Table 2.
TABLE 1: STANDARD REVISIONS AT SSPC 2017
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STANDARD(S)
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CONTRACTOR IMPACT
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SSPC-QP 1, Standard Procedure for Evaluating the Qualifications of Industrial/Marine Painting Contractors
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This determines how subcontractors are selected because of the risk of hiring non-qualified or under-qualified subcontractors.
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SSPC-QP 2, Standard Procedure for the Qualification of Painting Contractors
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The debate continues on who should control installation, movement and dismantling of containment platforms during hazardous paint removal operations.
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SSPC-SP 2, Hand Tool Cleaning
SSPC-SP 3, Power Tool Cleaning
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Revisions are long overdue and contractors need to make sure the revisions reflect current best practices and take into account tools used today to perform hand and power tool cleaning.
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SSPC-SP 16, Brush-Off Blast Cleaning of Coated Uncoated Galvanized Steel, Stainless Steels, and Non-Ferrous Metal
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The game is changing as coating of non and ferrous metals such as aluminum, stainless steel and galvanized surfaces is becoming more widespread. This is not blast-cleaning of carbon steel. Special precautions and different techniques are required for successful performance.
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SSPC-AB 3, Ferrous Metallic Abrasives
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The industry needs reasonable, practical and cost-effective methods to qualify newly manufactured metallic abrasives prior to first use.
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SSPC-PA 5, Guide to Maintenance Coating of Steel Structures in Atmospheric Service
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This is the essential standard for coating condition assessments, specifying exactly how they should be done for best results.
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TABLE 2: STANDARDS UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT SSPC 2017
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STANDARD(S)
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CONTRACTOR IMPACT
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Surface Area Measurement
Preparation of a standard procedure for measurement of surface area for estimating painting, decorating and coating work
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This will have a significant impact on how contractor and engineering estimates are performed on industrial coating jobs moving forward.
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Surface Preparation of Concrete
Development of new standards for cleanliness of concrete substrates following dry abrasive blast cleaning
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More concrete than ever is being painted for protection. Learn how it should be done, or tell the committee how to do it if you’re already performing surface preparation of concrete successfully.
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Commercial Cleaning & Painting
Development of standards for evaluating moisture in concrete walls and ceilings, and for classifying frequency of pinholes in coated surfaces
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Moisture in concrete has such a huge impact on commercial coating application, that the consequences of failure could be devastating.
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Commercial Contractor Qualification
Development of a commercial version of the SSPC-ACS 1 standard
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This committee is taking CAS to the commercial painting world and setting the standard for the future of worker certification.
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As in the past, the Painting Contractor Certification Program (PCCP) Advisory Committee will meet in two sessions: an Open meeting for all interested parties and a Business meeting for committee members. Issues before the committee that are sure to generate long discussions include the SSPC-QP 1 revision, especially as it relates to subcontractors, and the -QP 2 revision with its related platform issues.
In addition, as outlined in the recent QP Contractor Bulletin, beginning January 1, 2017, QP contractors will be required to have two CAS-certified Level I or II (minimum one Level II – Interim Status) craftworkers to two non-certified craftworkers (50 percent) on each painting crew during blast cleaning and spray application (Atmospheric and Immersion Service). While this issue is well known and QP contractors are already in the position to address it, we expect it to be a popular topic of conversation at SSPC 2017.
Action for contractors isn’t just limited to committee meetings. The technical program covers several strong and relevant topics, including the following presentations.
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“Bedevilled Bridges: An Answer to a National Scandal,” by Mike O’Donoghue, Ph.D., and Vijay Datta, M.S., International Paint LLC.
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“How to Non-Destructively Measure Dry Film Thickness (DFT) on Concrete Substrates,” by Joseph Walker, Elcometer Inc.
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“Up Periscope: Hunting for the Scope of Work,” by Troy Fraebel and Chuck Fite, The Sherwin-Williams Company.
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“Maintaining Aged Infrastructure with Difficult to Coat Features,” by Allen Skaja, Ph.D., U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
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“OSHA’s New Silica Standard,” by Thomas Enger, M.S., CSP, CHMM, Clemco Industries, Corp.
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“Regulatory Update: New and Revised Regulations and Actions Affecting the Coatings Industry,” by Alison Kaelin, CQA, ABKaelin, LLC.
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“Ladder Safety: Protecting Workers from a Complex Hazard,” by Stanford Liang, Golder Associates, Inc.
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“Avoiding or Resolving Common Problems with Inspectors and Owners Related to Surface Profile on Blasted Steel,” by Michael O’Brien, MARK 10 Resource Group, Inc.
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“Blasting Jobsite Project Management Tips,” by Brian Kenimer, Blast-One International.
And, of course, there’s networking. You can accomplish more face-to-face with people than you can on the phone or via email and text messages. People that you do business with in the coatings industry — the key decision makers who drive industry policy — want to meet you in person. Take a few days out of your busy year to hear the lessons-learned and tricks of the trade that you cannot hear anywhere else.
Finally, a full slate of SSPC training and certification programs are scheduled to be held both before and after the conference, enabling a one-stop-shop for contractors looking to get their employees trained and certified heading into the 2017 painting season. To date, we’re planning 28 programs for Tampa. You can see the complete lineup at
www.sspc2017.com/training-courses-at-sspc-2016/.
Registration for the conference is now open at
www.sspc2017.com. Hotel rooms are still available, but don’t wait to reserve yours — they’re expected to sell out soon.
