H.—44a

Standards Council as suitable for adoption as a New Zealand Standard they should be compared in detail with the draft Australian Grading Rules for Structural Timbers with a view to ascertaining whether the two sets of provisions can be correlated from the point of view of both arrangement and detailed requirements. The sub-committee has also decided to proceed with the development of a New Zealand Standard for hardwoods imported from other Australian States, and steps are being taken to obtain necessary preliminary information in this regard. Paints and Coatings Committee. (Seven meetings.) Having completed the preparation of New Zealand Standard Specifications for the paint ingredients generally used in the manufacture of paints, this committee is now devoting its attention to the development of standards for ready-mixed paints. This work is being undertaken in conj unction with a revision of the Stores Control Board specifications for the purchase of paints, varnishes, and enamels. A draft New Zealand Standard Specification for Ready-mixed Paint for Finishing Coats for Woodwork (White, Light, and Cream Tints) has been circulated to interested parties for comment, and will, in due course, be considered by the committee in the light of the coitiments received. A draft New Zealand Standard Specification for Pale Boiled Linseed Oil has also been completed and circulated for comment, while similar draft specifications for priming paint and white concrete and road traffic paint are at present in the course of preparation. During recent years much valuable research and experimentation has been carried out both in this and other countries in relation to suitable base materials for paints, and formulas for relating these, in a way that will produce the most suitable and effective protective coatings according to the varying purposes and conditions for and under which the paint is to be used. The formulation of standards for these materials and products relates the value of the work that has been thus carried to the actual needs of the Dominion. It also reduces the number of specifications and formulas to which paint need be manufactured and thereby greatly reduces overhead, production, and distribution costs. During the year four draft standard specifications received from overseas have been referred to the committee for examination. The following British Standard Specifications have been recommended to the Standards Council as being suitable for adoption as New Zealand Standards : — (a) Pigments for Paints— B.S.S. 272-1936 Natural Red Oxides of Iron, Grades A and B. (Amended to suit New Zealand conditions.) 305-1936 Manufactured Red Oxides of Iron, excluding Venetian RedType 1 : Indian and Turkey Reds. Type 2 : Other Manufactured Oxides. (Amended to suit New Zealand conditions.) 694-1936 Blended Red Oxides of Iron. (Amended to suit New Zealand conditions.) 851-1939 Chemically Prepared Oxides and Hydrated Oxides of Iron (Marigold, Maroon, and Yellow) Pure and Reduced. (Amended to suit New Zealand conditions.) 282-1938 Lead Chromes for Paints. 389-1938 Zinc Chromes for Paints. 311-1936 Gold Size. (b) Oil Pastes— B.S.S. 390-1938 Oil Pastes for Paints (excluding White Lead Zinc Oxide) and Lithopone Oil Pastes. 241-1935 Genuine White Lead Oil Paste. 273-1935 Zinc Oxide Oil Paste. (Amended to suit New Zealand conditions.) 297-1935 Lithopone Oil Paste. (c) Vehicles for Paints— B.S.S. 391-1936 Tung Oil, Type F. Building Code Committee. (No meetings.) Building Code Technical Sub-committee .. .. .. .. 9 meetings. Structural Welding Sub-committee .. . . .. 1 meeting. Heating and Ventilation Sub-committee . . .. . . .. Inactive. Fire Prevention Sub-committee . . . . .. .. 7 meetings. © Indoor Fire Prevention Equipment Panel .. .. .. .. 8 meetings. Flats and Apartment House By-laws Sub-committee .. .. 5 meetings. Trade Headings Sub-committee .. .. .. .. .. 7 meetings. Parent Committee. —Although this committee has not had occasion to meet during the year, it has continued to review the reports of its sub-committees, and to directly control the work carried out by them, by post. Building Code Technical Sub-committee.—Tlhis sub-committee has continued with the drafting of Part VII, Steelwork, of the New Zealand Standard Code of Building By-laws, which is in the nature of a revision and amplification of Section VII, Steelwork, of the Standard Model Building By-law, Sections I-X, issued by the New Zealand Standards Institution in 1936. The revised provisions will cover all the matters previously dealt with, together with provisions in respect of the design of welded structures, which are being included in view of the increasing use which is being made of this method of fabrication.

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