New or Revised SSPC Standards for 2018

New SSPC Standards

SSPC-PA 18/AASHTO-NSBA S8.2, Specification for Application of Thermal Spray Coating Systems to Steel Bridges: This standard references the application requirements in SSPC-CS 23.00/ AWS C2.23M/ NACE No. 12, Specification for the Application of Thermal Spray Coatings (Metallizing) of Aluminum, Zinc, and Their Alloys and Composites for the Corrosion Protection of Steel. Similar to SSPC-PA 1 for liquid coating application, this specification provides supplementary information and guidance to specifiers developing project specifications that will promote consistent quality through the application process.

SSPC-Guide 24, Soluble Salt Testing Frequency and Locations on New Steel Surfaces: This guide will assist owners and specifiers who need to determine the location of test sites and frequency of testing to measure soluble salt levels on previously uncoated ("new") steel prior to application of a protective coating system, or on shop-coated steel that will subsequently receive additional coatings to complete a protective coating system.

Revised SSPC Standards

SSPC-AB 3, Ferrous Metallic Abrasives: SSPC-AB 3 provides initial qualification criteria for new, unused ferrous metallic abrasive used for abrasive blast cleaning in industrial coating projects. Requirements for physical size classification, hardness classification, particle shape, specific gravity, durability, and chemical composition are included. SSPC-AB 3 is intended to be used to ensure the quality of newly manufactured media, and can also be used to verify the acceptability of purchased media prior to use.

Many of the 2017 revisions are editorial and related to the organization of the contents. Nonmandatory commentary has been moved into the Notes section. The tables have been updated to reflect revisions in the SAE J444 standard. A reference to the ASTM D7393, "Standard Practice for Indicating Oil in Abrasives" has been added.

SSPC-PA Guide 5, Guide to Maintenance Coating of Steel Structures in Atmospheric Service: PA 5 is intended to assist owners who wish to develop maintenance coating programs for steel structures in atmospheric service.  It is representative of the processes that a coating specialist would follow to develop a maintenance coating plan for specific facilities. PA Guide 5 sets out specific steps that may be used, either individually or collectively to identify and address essential elements of a maintenance coating program such as conducting condition assessment surveys, exploring maintenance painting options, evaluating the economics of various maintenance strategies, and implementing the selected option. This revision was primarily an editorial update, adding new references and adding references to applicable standards issued after 2004.

SSPC-SP 2, Hand Tool Cleaning and SSPC-SP 3, Power Tool Cleaning: Hand and power tool cleaning are used for removal of loosely adhering coating and visible contaminants from steel surfaces, on projects where a minimum level of surface preparation is acceptable and a surface-tolerant coating will be applied to the prepared substrate. These cleaning methods are often specified for spot cleaning of small areas during maintenance, or in areas where use of blast abrasive media cannot be tolerated due to risk of contamination of the surrounding surfaces. Powered tools are frequently equipped with vacuum attachments to collect and control dust. Hand tools may be required in areas where sparks cannot be tolerated.

The 2017 revisions align the organization of these standards with that of the SSPC-SP 11 and SP-15 power tool cleaning standards. A definition of a dull putty knife has been added for clarification, and a procedure for the use of the dull putty knife to identify loosely adherent material on the surface has been added.

All of the above standards are available for download from the SSPC Marketplace at no cost to SSPC members. (You will need to log in as an SSPC Member to obtain the free downloads.)