January 25, 2019
The RCI Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) responds to industry issues, policy, and standards as they occur, and recommends association policy to the RCI Board of Directors on matters related to these items. They have just issued two new technical advisories:
- RCI-TA-017-2019 on Fiber-Cement Siding: Inherent Issues Affecting Performance
- RCI-TA-018-2019 on Electronic Leak Detection (ELD)
You may view these advisories via the above links and also download past advisories on the Policy Statements page of the RCI website (located under the News/Advocacy menu).
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TA-18-2019 on ELD needs to be revised. Black EPDM can be electronically tested using the scanning platform. This was demonstrated at the RCI International Convention by Detec Systems which was located at booth #132.
The IIBEC Technical Advisory Committee is well aware of the issue with conducting ELD scans on carbon-black-containing products such as EPDM. When the TAC developed TA-018, the members followed the advice and suggestions given in ASTM D7877, “Standard Guide for Electronic Methods for Detecting and Locating Leaks in Waterproof Membranes.” This ASTM standard is under the jurisdiction of Committee D08 on Roofing and Waterproofing. The TA was written to be consistent with the information in D7877.
Regarding the ASTM standard, D7877 makes statements in three paragraphs that the ELD technique is not applicable to black EPDM. For example, see D7877 paragraph 6.5, titled “Limitations,” in which it is stated: “The conductance leak locate method using the scanning platform cannot be carried out on conductive membranes such as EPDM.” If ASTM Committee D08 revises D7877 to remove the prohibition of testing black EPDM, the IIBEC TAC will likewise address the issue to determine whether TA-018 should be accordingly revised.