MPI moves testing south of the border

by mbuckstein | December 21, 2012 10:24 am

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At the end of the month, the Master Painters Institute (MPI) will be moving its coating performance lab testing operations out of its Vancouver headquarters to KTA-Tator Inc., an accredited lab in Pittsburgh, Pa.

MPI has been testing proprietary coating products in its Vancouver lab since 1995 to determine whether they meet the third-party group’s performance standards and should be listed on its Approved Products Lists. Barry Law, MPI president, said the change to a lab located in the United States is being made with the consideration that nearly 90 per cent of MPI’s present testing originates from U.S. paint and raw material manufacturers.

KTA-Tator is an accredited laboratory for specified testing by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) in accordance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025, Quality Systems for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It conducts various routine analyses called for in many of MPI’s performance standards, including:
• appearance tests (e.g. colour difference, gloss retention, and hiding and contrast ratio);
• wet tests;
• physical properties (i.e. chemical spot testing, hardness, resistance to chipping and scrub resistance); and
• free film testing (including tensile/elongation/flexural and water vapor transmittance).

The lab contains test panels and surface preparation and coating application facilities, including a walk-in abrasive blast-cleaning room. KTA’s coating laboratory provides paint, corrosion, and material testing services including:
• coatings research;
• compositional analysis;
• accelerated weathering;
• cyclic corrosion testing; and
• abrasive performance.

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/mpi-moves-testing-south-of-the-border/

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