If you're coating aluminium for architectural applications — curtain walls, window frames, balcony rails, commercial storefronts — your customer's spec will eventually name one of two standards: AAMA 2605 in North America, or Qualicoat in Europe and most of the rest of the world. They are not interchangeable. The testing protocols are different, the pretreatment requirements are different, and the level of third-party verification is different.

This guide explains what each standard actually tests, what it requires from your line, and how to design a coating operation that can reliably hit either one. We see the confusion between the two constantly in pretreatment line quoting, so this is the article we wish existed when customers first started asking us about architectural spec compliance.

The two standards in plain language

AAMA 2605

Developed by the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (now part of the Fenestration & Glazing Industry Alliance). AAMA 2605-22 is the current version. It's a performance specification: it defines the testing the finished coated part must survive, but doesn't dictate how you achieve those results. You can use any pretreatment chemistry, any powder formulation, any oven profile — as long as the finished coating passes the tests.

Key AAMA 2605 requirements:

10-year South Florida weathering — ΔE ≤ 5 after 10 years of real-world exposure (not accelerated)
Erosion — less than 10% chalk/erosion after 10 years
Adhesion — no removal on cross-hatch + tape test after weathering
Impact resistance — 160 in-lb direct, no cracking
Chemical resistance — 15+ chemicals from muriatic acid to mortar, no effect
Accelerated weathering correlation — 4,000 hours QUV-A equivalent before production

Qualicoat

Developed by Qualicoat AISBL in Switzerland. Qualicoat is a process specification with certification: it dictates what pretreatment chemistry you use, what testing you run in-house, how often you test, and requires annual third-party audits of your facility. You can't just run parts through testing — the entire production system has to be certified.

Three Qualicoat classes, in increasing severity:

Class 1 — general architectural. 1,000 hours QUV-B accelerated weathering, standard adhesion and impact tests. Most common for inland applications.
Class 2 — high durability. 3,000 hours QUV-B. Required for commercial architectural work in many European markets.
Class 3 / Seaside — coastal and marine. Florida 5-year real-world weathering correlation, 4,000+ hours QUV-B, plus additional Kesternich (SO₂) and salt-spray tests. Required for any coastal architectural application within 5–10 km of saltwater.

Qualicoat Seaside Class is roughly equivalent to AAMA 2605 in durability, with different test methods.

What they test, side by side

The two standards overlap in intent but use different methods:

Weathering

AAMA 2605 requires 10-year real-world South Florida exposure plus 4,000 hour QUV-A lab correlation. It trusts field data above lab data.

Qualicoat relies primarily on QUV-B lab exposure (1,000 / 3,000 / 4,000 hours depending on class), with Florida exposure required only for Seaside Class. It trusts standardized lab conditions for repeatability.

In practice, powder formulations that pass AAMA 2605 will usually pass Qualicoat Class 2 and often Class 3, and vice versa. The test methods differ but the underlying durability bar is similar.

Pretreatment

This is where the standards diverge significantly.

AAMA 2605 does not dictate pretreatment chemistry. You can use chromate, titanium/zirconium nanotechnology, or any other chemistry that produces parts that pass the weathering and adhesion tests. In practice, nearly all AAMA 2605 lines use either chromate or Ti/Zr nanotechnology.

Qualicoat prescribes pretreatment chemistry and requires it to be on an approved list maintained by Qualicoat AISBL. Chromate and qualified Ti/Zr nanotechnology products are permitted; other chemistries must go through the Qualicoat approval process before they can be used on certified lines. This is why Qualicoat certification includes a chemistry audit — your tank chemistry has to match the approved product on your license.

Both standards require the same number of pretreatment stages (6–8 for coastal/Seaside, 5–6 for inland) — they just differ on which chemistries you can run through those stages.

Application and cure

Neither standard dictates application method or oven profile. Both allow manual spray, automatic spray, corona or tribo, batch or conveyor oven, gas or electric — provided the finished part passes testing.

Qualicoat does require you to document your application and cure parameters as part of the facility certification, and requires that you run process control checks (oven temperature profile every 6 months, powder thickness monitoring every batch). AAMA 2605 leaves process control up to the coater.

Third-party verification

AAMA 2605 can be verified by sending test panels to a qualified lab. Individual projects or parts can be tested on a project-by-project basis. No facility certification required.

Qualicoat requires your coating facility to be certified. Annual third-party audits. All production runs through the certified line. The audit covers pretreatment chemistry compliance, process control records, lab test results, and physical inspection of a random production run.

Qualicoat is more work but gives your customers more confidence — a Qualicoat-licensed coater's production is continuously verified, not just a one-time sample.

How to spec a line that meets either

If you want flexibility to serve customers requiring either AAMA 2605 or Qualicoat (common for exporters, architectural façade fabricators, and multi-market powder coaters), the line needs to be designed for the more stringent requirement across both standards. That means:

8-stage pretreatment — the Qualicoat Seaside + AAMA 2605 overlap. Includes degrease, rinse, etch, rinse, conversion, rinse, DI rinse, and drying.
Ti/Zr nanotechnology conversion chemistry on the Qualicoat approved list — satisfies both standards simultaneously and avoids chromate REACH issues.
Automatic dosing and chemistry monitoring — required for Qualicoat audit, smart practice for AAMA 2605.
Oven profile monitoring — Qualicoat-mandated temperature profile verification every 6 months. We spec data-logging temperature probes as standard on architectural lines.
Test panel production + in-house adhesion/impact lab — Qualicoat requires in-house testing at defined intervals. Even for AAMA 2605-only work it's good practice.

A properly-spec'd line will cost 10–20% more than a general-purpose line but qualifies for both major standards and for most regional architectural specs that reference them (GSB in Germany, QPA in the UK, various national variants).

When both are required

Some international architectural projects — particularly large developer projects sourcing aluminium from multiple continents — specify both AAMA 2605 and Qualicoat Seaside Class. This is rare but increasingly common on luxury commercial projects.

If you're bidding on this kind of work, you need facility Qualicoat certification (for the process side) plus AAMA 2605 test reports from a qualified lab (for the performance side). The coating line itself can satisfy both with the 8-stage + Ti/Zr + in-house lab configuration described above. The overhead is in the paperwork and audit cadence, not the line hardware.

Scoping your line for spec compliance

PowCEQ delivers Qualicoat-compliant and AAMA 2605-compatible pretreatment + powder coating lines from our offices in Switzerland, the USA, and the UAE. We've delivered lines to Qualicoat-licensed architectural coaters across the EU and to AAMA 2605-certified extruders in the US — we know the audit process from the equipment side and can help you plan the facility certification path at the same time.

If you're scoping a new architectural aluminium coating line and need to hit specific standards, get in touch with your target standard and production volume — we'll come back with a line configuration and a list of the additional facility certifications you'll need to budget for.

AAMA 2605 vs Qualicoat: What Architectural Specs Actually Require