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ASTM Panel at Work on Steel-Lifecycle Standards

Thursday, July 15, 2010

ASTM Subcommittee A05.13 on Structural Shapes and Hardware Specifications announced that work is under way on proposed new standards that will be used to evaluate the costs of steel construction over the lifetime of a project and to compare different corrosion-protection systems in terms of their impact on this lifetime cost.

The standards would be used by engineers and architects who design with steel fabrications, ASTM said. One such proposed standard is ASTM WK27436, Practice for Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Corrosion Protection Systems on Iron and Steel Products.

“We want a more formal methodology of calculating lifecycle cost and a recognized authority like ASTM to approve the calculations,” Thomas Langill, technical director, American Galvanizers Association, said in an announcement on the standard-development work. Langill is chairman of both Committee A05 on Metallic-Coated Iron and Steel Products and Subcommittee A05.13. “By having an ASTM specification, we can encourage specifiers of steel projects to include the new specification as a requirement of quotation,” he said.

Langill said that once ASTM WK27436 has been approved, it will be used to accurately calculate the cost of any project comparing steel, concrete or galvanized steel, and painted steel as the construction material. He said ASTM WK27436 will provide “a clear picture of the actual material cost beyond the simplistic initial cost basis.” He also said customers will learn the value of using the method, once it is approved, to determine the costs of a maintenance-free corrosion-protection system.

All interested parties are invited to participate in the standards-development activities of A05.13. In addition to ASTM WK27436, Subcommittee A05.13 is currently developing WK20069, Specification for Tin Coating (Hot-Dip) on Iron and Steel Software, and WK28445, Zinc-Aluminum (Hot-Dip) Coatings on Iron and Steel Products.

ASTM International said it welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. For more information on the organization or on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org or www.astm.org/JOIN.