Laboratory Services & Materials Consultancy

Principal Specialisations – Paints  •  Sealants  • Adhesives

Company History and Expertise

We were established in 1946, and our laboratories have been accredited successively by MOD, NATLAS, NAMAS and UKAS for over thirty years. We were the first independent United Kingdom laboratories to be accredited in the paints, adhesives and sealants fields, when the DTI NATLAS initiative was launched in 1982, and have remained accredited ever since. We are fully accredited to the international laboratory accreditation standard EN ISO/IEC 17025:2000, including for the provision of opinions and interpretations, one of the first four UK laboratories to be accredited for this.
Our senior staff have over twenty-five years’ experience in the testing and evaluation of coatings, adhesives and sealant performance, both in the field through on-site inspections on a world-wide basis and in our laboratories through testing to British Standard, ISO, ASTM, DIN and other national Specifications. Expert reports are written where litigation is contemplated as a result of a materials failure, and in other chemistry based matters
Our specialisations in the construction industry include the protection of structural steelwork from corrosion, and the performance of double-glazing, insulation and cladding systems, including architectural powder-coated work where we feature on the AASC list of approved powder-coating and anodising inspectors. In addition to normal indoor and outdoor commercial and domestic property decorations we have become involved more recently in advising with regard to period restoration work, for example in the matching of colours of nineteenth century paints as recently reproduced on Westminster Bridge and elsewhere.
We also have long and continuing experience in the monitoring and analysis of airborne emissions from industrial processes. We conduct short and long-term on-site sampling, as well as the analysis and identification of emissions which have caused damage to coatings, sealants, cladding, etc, or are likely to cause human discomfort or illness.

Test Facilities

Accelerated weathering, salt spray, controlled humidity and ultra-violet irradiation exposure testing

Many paint, sealant and adhesive tests are covered by our UKAS accreditation. Others that are called for less frequently are subject to the same quality procedures. Typically commonly requested tests include:

  • Physical testing equipment for paints, bitumens, sealants, adhesives, plastics, etc., including tensile, skid resistance, colour, luminance, to BS, ISO, DIN and American standards
  • Analysis of organic and inorganic products (employing principally Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, gas-liquid chromatography and optical microscopy)

As well as these in-house facilities, our extensive network of university contacts give us economic access to sophisticated analytical techniques such as DSC, ICP, scanning electron microscopy, ToF-SIMS, XPS and XRF

Consultancy

Our principal consultants are Dr Chris Chatfield and Dr Andy King, each with over twenty-five years’ experience in surface coatings technology. Dr Chatfield came from the Engineering Department of the University of London and Dr King from the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College, London.

As Senior Consultant Dr Chatfield holds the following qualifications:

  • B.Sc (Honours) 1966
  • Ph.D 1969
  • Chartered Chemist
  • Member of the Academy of Experts
  • Member of the Institute of Corrosion
  • Member of the Institute of Materials
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Membership of other professional bodies includes:

  • Association of Consulting Scientists (as Chairman 1997-2002)
  • Society of Chemical Industry
  • Oil and Colour Chemists Association

The Company was also a founder member of the British Measurement and Testing Association, and the Society of Expert Witnesses.

Areas of Expertise

The following listing summarises the areas in which we can offer testing facilities and expertise

Adhesives
Ageing and Deterioration of materials
Airborne contamination
Alcohol backtrack calculations
Analysis
Anodising
Anti-corrosive paints
Asphalt
Bitumens
Blood alcohol analysis
Bridge paints
Chemical analysis
Colour measurement
Construction and road-making materials
Corrosion
Curtain walling
Detergents
Double-glazing
Elastomers		 Expert witness
Galvanizing
Glazing workmanship
Industrial fall-out
Infra-red analysis
Inks, including printing inks
Insulating materials, insulation
Marine paints
Mastics
Metal treatment
Microscopy
Optical microscopy
Organic analysis
Packaging and packaging materials
Paint failure
Paints, lacquers and varnishes
Patent infringements
Pavement marking paints
Pigments		 Plastics
Polymers
Powder coatings
Printing inks
Quality assurance testing
Road-marking materials
Salt spray testing
Sealants
Shellac
Skid resistance
Slip resistance of flooring
Solvents
Surface coatings
Tar and tar products
Trade Descriptions Act infringements
Varnishes
Weathering testing
White line paints

Paints of all types

We are probably best-known for our activities in the following areas:

  • Automotive, bridge, marine, pipework, structural steelwork, decorative and DIY paints, road, runway and pavement markings
  • Corrosion prevention and investigation
  • Double-glazing
  • Cladding materials
  • Sealants
  • Constructional, glazing, road and runway jointing
  • Bituminous materials
  • Adhesives
  • Printing inks
  • Blood and breath alcohol analysis
  • Packaging
  • Plastic and plastic coatings
  • Rubbers

We can determine, for example:-

  • The number of paint coats applied and their individual thicknesses
  • The slip resistances of floorings in shopping malls, railway concourses
  • The causes of premature paint and sealant failures
  • The likely original colours employed in historic building paintwork
  • The qualities of galvanizing, anodising and powder coating
  • The cause and source of industrial fall-out damage to cars and buildings

Client Base

Our client base includes:-

  • Government departments and agencies
    • Public sector and local authority organizations
    • NHS Trusts
    • Trading Standards Departments
  • Insurance companies
    • Legal practitioners
    • Loss adjusters and assessors
    • Patent agents
    • Architects and surveyors
  • Construction and oil companies
    • Road and runway contractors
    • Shipbuilders and ship-owners
    • Land, sea and air cargo carriers
  • Car and other vehicle manufacturers
    • Car importers
    • Automotive component suppliers
  • Coatings, adhesives and plastics manufacturers and users
    • Printing ink suppliers and users
    • Sealant and mastic manufacturers and users
  • DIY retailers
    • Homebuilders
    • Hotel chains
    • Private householders and car owners

Pricing Policy and Turn-Around Time

Pricing

Prices are based on fixed price sums for testing product performance against specification requirements, or on a pre-agreed hourly rate for failure investigations. Depending on their location and complexity, failure investigations are likely to cost in the range £500 – £2000.

Turn-around Time

Site visits (where necessary) can usually be arranged to take place within 48 hours of first contact by the client. Tests can usually commence within 72 hours of sample receipt.

Contact Us

NEWTON HOUSE • BYERS LANE • SOUTH GODSTONE • SURREY • RH9 8JH
Tel: +44 (0)1342 893344 • Fax: +44 (0)1342 893542
E-mail: chrischatfield@paintsealanttest.co.uk or andy.king@paintsealanttest.co.uk