WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PA - ASTM Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials and Applications has issued an invitation to users of color specifications to participate in the development of a standard related to how a supplier and customer set a color specification for a material.

The proposed guide will assist technicians in establishing numerical (instrumental) tolerances for color and provide standards of ideal color for raw-material suppliers, coatings producers, or pigment suppliers setting color specifications, ASTM said.

Ellen C. Carter, a consultant with Minolta Corp., is serving as chairman of the ASTM Committee D01 task group that will develop the standard. The guide will provide a "how-to" road map to the approximately 12 ASTM standards for color specifications, Carter said.

The D01 task group is inviting interested parties to discuss a first draft of the guide at the Committee D01 meeting scheduled for Jan. 11-14, 2004, in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For further technical information, contact Carter by phone at 973/237.0643, e-mail eccarter@bellatlantic.net. For information on Committee D01 meetings or membership, contact Tim Brooke of ASTM, phone 610/832.9729, e-mail tbrooke@astm.org.