ASTM International Committee C24 on Building Seals and Sealants invites interested parties to participate in the development of a proposed new standard that will use photographs to illustrate various types of sealant failures. WK11731, Guide for Diagnosing Sealant Failure by Comparison to Reference Photographs, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee C24.10 on Specifications, Guides and Practices.
 
David Nicastro, founder and CEO, Engineering Diagnostics and immediate past chair of Committee C24, says that the idea for the proposed new standard came during discussion at a meeting of Subcommittee C24.01 on Terminology. “A picture is worth at least a thousand words when defining failure types,” says Nicastro. “We were talking about aesthetic failure mechanisms, like dirt pick-up on a sealant surface, but we decided to develop the proposed new standard with the more ambitious goal of defining all sealant failure types.”
 
WK11731 will match a photo with a caption for each specific failure type. After a caption and photo have been approved, they will also be included in C 717, Terminology of Building Seals and Sealants. Nicastro says that the proposed new standard will be a good tool for diagnosing sealant joint failures in the field and that it will be useful to forensic consultants, sealant manufacturers and any other parties involved in construction disputes regarding sealant failures.

For further technical information, contact David Nicastro, Engineering Diagnostics, Austin, Texas (phone: 512/474-0400; dnicastro@engineeringdiagnostics.com). Committee C24 meets Jan. 7-9, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Scott Orthey, manager, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9730; sorthey@astm.org).

Release #7483