Standardization News

With heightened interest in air quality issues involving gypsum board, the first draft of a proposed new standard on the subject, ASTM WK26072, Practice for Evaluation of Buildings to Identify Corrosive Gypsum Board, was reviewed and edited at a task group meeting on Nov. 10, 2009, in Atlanta, Ga.

WK26072 is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Subcommittee C11.01 on Specifications and Test Methods for Gypsum Products, part of ASTM Committee C11 on Gypsum and Related Building Materials and Systems. The development and approval of WK26072 is a priority for Committee C11, which has set a goal of publication in 2010 for the standard.

The task group meeting was attended by more than 25 participants, including consultants, home inspectors and representatives of the gypsum industry and government entities. Following a positive question and answer session, the group reviewed the entire draft and agreed that the scope of the proposed standard is to identify gypsum board capable of producing corrosive gases.

All interested parties are invited to participate in the ongoing development of WK26072. The WK26072 task group is especially seeking the participation of home inspectors in its work.

CONTACT

Technical Information: Spiderman Mulholland, U.S. Building Consultants Inc., Gainesville, Fla.

Phone: 352-505-6771

ASTM Staff: Thomas O'Toole

Phone: 610-832-9739