History
Since 1944, the Commonwealth Government of Australia has operated an effective scheme of selection and specification of paints. The scheme, known as the Government Paint Committee (GPC) and more recently the Australian Paint Approval Scheme (APAS), had always recognised the limitations of the scheme, if the products were applied by indifferent or inexperienced applicators.
Until recently, the problem of approving paint applicators was seen as very difficult. This was largely because the industry lacked cohesion and was unfamiliar with the complex technical, environmental and workplace practices that can affect the performance of protective coatings.
In 1986, the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC), in the USA addressed this problem by forming the Painting Contractor Certification Program (PCCP). It was not until 1987, with the publication of an article on the PCCP in the American Journal of Protective Linings and Coatings, that we in Australia became aware of the scheme’s existence.
In October 1991, recognising the need to develop a similar scheme for local contractors, the GPC formed the Contractor Certification Advisory Committee. In 1992, the formation of the Blast Cleaning & Coating Association (BCCA) gave the protective coating application industry a national focus.
At that time, the GPC committee wrote to the BCCA suggesting that a similar scheme be set up in Australia. In fact, at that time, the BCCA were thinking along the exactly the same lines. In January 1992, a joint GPC/BCCA scheme was adopted. In July 1993 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Commonwealth of Australia and the BCCA.
The SSPC kindly allowed the scheme to use the PCCP name and provided much of their documentation. The PCCP board was established under the Chairmanship of Dr Robert Francis (Australasian Corrosion Association representative) and was able to develop the scheme to meet Australian requirements.
In December 1994, the Minister for Administrative Services the Hon Frank Walker formally launched the PCCP of Australia. On the 2 May 2001, the PCCP Technical Committee was formed to provide advice and guidance on the operation and requirements of the PCCP.
Since its inception till 1 October 2004, the PCCP was administered by the Scientific Services Laboratory (SSL). SSL, originally part of the Commonwealth’s Australian Construction Services (ACS) and then the Department of Administrative Services eventually became part of the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories (AGAL). On 1 July 2004 AGAL became part of the National Measurement Institute under the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources. On 1 October SSL was absorbed into CSIRO’s Manufacturing & Infrastructure Technology Division (now CSIRO Infrastructure Technologies).
Executive Officers PCCP
2016 – Present:
Elenora Stepanova (From Contractor QA role)
1998 – 2016:
Ken Lofhelm (From Paint Manufacturing Sector)
1994 – 1998:
Gerry Eccleston (From SSL)