This Manual is the result of the tireless efforts of many people who followed in the footsteps of many others who contributed to the development of standards and information in this industry. The publication of this MPI Architectural Painting Specification Manual is the product of a unique team composed of Association staff, volunteer Directors, industry technical people, coating technologists, and industry volunteers from several countries who now form an International Advisory Board. Regardless of the tremendous foundation established by the publication of previous manuals and the wealth of knowledge available, this particular undertaking took well over two years.

Our sincere thanks to Master Painters and Decorators Association and MPI senior staff people who spent thousands of hours on the project; to MPDA Past President and MPI Board Chairman Greg Boshard and Technical Committee Chairman, Peter Combe; to Master Painter Manuel Fernandes, Manager and Senior Inspector of MPDA’s Quality Assurance Program; to Bob Welch, Technical Director of the Master Painters Institute; to Jody Lavery, MPI's Training Director; and to Barry Law, MPI's President.

Pivotal industry persons who, over the years, spent countless hours on various industry projects resulting in the evolution of the present-day technical publications include Past Presidents, and Master Painters, Gerry Wiezoreck and Werner Bittel.
We wish to thank the members of the MPI International Advisory Board. Each of these people is of considerable reputation with significant paint and coating industry experience, extremely talented and knowledgeable, and each adds additional unique depth to this important 'guiding' Board:

• Al Beitleman is Director of Paint Technology at the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center in Champaign, IL. and consultant on coatings for the US Army Corps of Engineers. A coatings technical author, he is NACE III certified and very active in SSPC and ASTM.
• Carl Bradley is with Diversified Interiors, a commercial painting contractor in El Paso, Texas. Carl is a past president of the Painting & Decorating Contractors of America, and is current chairman of their Architectural Specification Committee. He is also a Certified Master Instructor for NCCER.
• Joe Brandon is a Civil Engineer with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, U.S. Navy in Norfolk, Virginia. He is an SSPC Protective Coating Specialist, and NACE certified Coatings Inspector. He is currently serving on a number of SSPC committees.
• Long time painting industry consultant and current residential painting contractor from Salt Lake City, Utah, Fred Burns.
• A past president of Painting and Decorating Contractors of America and current residential painting contractor from Boston, Paul Corey.
• Calvin Crofford is an architect with the Atlantic Division Naval Facilities Engineering Command (LANTDIV), US Navy in Norfolk, VA. He is a registered Architect, a member of Construction Specifications Institute, and the Architectural Supervisor in the specifications branch of LANTDIV.
• Past president of Painting & Decorating Contractors of America. Current painting industry consultant from Riviera Beach, Florida, Bob Cusamano.
• A leading expert in the authoring of U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force painting and inspection documentation, and currently a SSPC trainer and technical consultant to SSPC (Society for Protective Coatings), Dr. Richard Drisko.
• Susan Drodtz is a research chemist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Champaign, IL. She is a leading expert for the Army Corps of Engineers and serves as technical author of the Corps’ guide specification for general painting. She is an instructor in paint and corrosion courses offered by the Corps. She serves on a number of ASTM and SSPC committees.
• Coating Technologist Tom Fairley is with Calcoast Labs, San Francisco. Tom was involved with the writing of material in past revisions of MPI Manuals and the conversion of MPI product specifications to performance-based specifications.
• A former commercial painting contractor. Current Council Exec. Dir. of the Painting & Decorating Contractors of Hawaii, from Honolulu, Ray Fujii.
• A foremost specialist in coating failure analysis and current Technical Vice-President of KTA-TATOR Inc., from Pittsburgh, Eric Kline.
• A director of Construction Specifications Canada, and current professional specification writer from Vancouver, British Columbia, Robert Park.
• Tom Sliva is with DL Labs, New York. Tom has been involved with the coatings industry for years, and serves on several ASTM committees. His firm has been responsible for a significant amount of the paint qualification testing of C.G.S.B. (Canadian General Standards Board) paints.
• Jim Stelzer, past president of Painting and Decorating Contractors of America and current industrial painting contractor from Lincoln, Nebraska.
• Current delegate to ICIS (International Construction Information Society) representing Construction Specifications Canada, and prominent professional specification consultant, from Camrose, Alberta, Wayne Watson.
• Dan Zarate is a Research Chemist with the U.S. Navy in Port Hueneme, California. He is NACE certified and an SSPC Protective Coating Specialist. He is currently chairman of the SSPC paint committee, and is very highly regarded in architectural and industrial coating fields.

The manufacturers of approved products in the manual also had experienced key technical personnel involved on technical committees, which, at times, had over fifty people (too numerous to mention here) participating throughout the process. In particular, pivotal industry persons include Valerie Braund (FCST), 'Skip' Lennox of ICI Paints, and Ric Williams of Sherwin-Williams.
To all these incredible people ….. our sincere thanks !