Corrosion protection standards in Uzbekistan: ShNK 2.03.11-24, Construction Regulation QR 04.01-23, GOST

Corrosion protection in the regulations of the Republic of Uzbekistan

In 2023–2025 Uzbekistan’s regulations on the corrosion protection of building structures were renewed completely: both documents approved in 1996, to which corrosion protection was designed and carried out for decades, lost force. Below we set out what applies now, how the new codes are structured and how interstate GOST standards and international standards fit into them.

The official texts of the codes are published in Uzbek in the national legislation database lex.uz; Russian and English titles follow the lex.uz translation, and our summaries of the requirements are working translations. The lists of codes in force are kept by the research institute for technical norms and standardization (TMSITI) under the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services. Check the current edition before citing a document in a design.

What has changed

No longer in force Replaced by Date
KMK 2.03.11-96 “Protection of Building Structures against Corrosion” — design ShNK 2.03.11-24 “Protection of Building Structures of Buildings and Facilities against Corrosion” 28.02.2025
KMK 3.04.02-97 “Protection of Building Structures and Facilities against Corrosion” — execution of work Construction Regulation QR 04.01-23 “Protection of Building Structures and Facilities against Corrosion” 31.10.2023

References to KMK 2.03.11-96 and KMK 3.04.02-97 are still found in designs, terms of reference and specifications. They must be replaced with the documents now in force, checking at the same time whether the requirements have changed.

ShNK 2.03.11-24: design of protection

The urban planning norms and rules ShNK 2.03.11-24 (ShNK — Urban Planning Norms and Rules; GNP 2.03.11-24 in the Russian translation on lex.uz) were approved by Order of the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services No. 01/2-5 of 24.01.2025 and came into force on 28.02.2025, the day of their registration by the Ministry of Justice (No. 336). The order was issued in accordance with the Urban Planning Code and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 231 of 23.04.2024 on harmonising construction regulations with international standards. The norms set requirements for corrosion protection in the design of concrete, reinforced concrete, timber, masonry, chrysotile cement and metal structures of buildings and facilities exposed to aggressive environments at temperatures from −40 to +50 °C. Their main points:

  • Three kinds of measures. Primary protection is built in at the design and fabrication stage — through structural solutions and the choice of material and its structure. Secondary protection means protective coatings, impregnations and surface insulation. Special protection covers physical and physico-chemical methods, reducing the aggressiveness of the environment, drainage and electrochemical protection.
  • Four degrees of aggressiveness. The exposure of structures to the external environment is divided into degrees I–IV: very low, low, medium and high aggressiveness.
  • Service life. Primary and secondary protection measures are designed for structures with a 50-year service life. For concrete and reinforced concrete structures with a 100-year service life and for structures of class KS-3 under GOST 27751-2014, the aggressiveness assessment is raised by one degree; where this is not possible, protection is provided under a special design.
  • Input data. The climate of the site and the humidity regime of the premises are taken into account, as are the site investigation results — composition and level of groundwater, substances in the soil that are aggressive to the materials, stray currents — the types and concentrations of gases and aerosols, the prevailing wind direction, and mechanical, thermal and biological effects.
  • Concrete. Requirements for concrete are linked to exposure classes XC, XS, XD, XF and XA — carbonation, chlorides from sea water and other sources, freeze–thaw and chemical attack; protection against electrocorrosion is dealt with separately.
  • Metal. The degree of aggressiveness for metal structures is determined from the humidity, the time of wetness of the surface, the group of aggressive gases and the location: in a heated building, in an unheated building or under a canopy, or outdoors. Annex 18 specifies the paint coating group and its total thickness including the primer — for steel without a metallic coating, galvanized steel and metal-sprayed steel.
  • Coatings on steel. Paint coatings are divided into groups I–IV by binder type, and quality classes are specified for coatings on load-bearing steel structures depending on the aggressiveness of the environment. Edges, welds and areas that are difficult to reach are stripe-coated first.
  • Adhesion. For coatings up to 250 µm thick — no more than 2 points by the cross-cut method (GOST 31149-2014); for thicker coatings — no more than 1 point by the X-cut method (GOST 32702.2-2014) or at least 4 MPa by the pull-off method (GOST 32299-2013).

The norms refer only to Uzbek urban planning norms and interstate GOST standards — including GOST 9.402-2004, GOST 9.401-2018, GOST 9.602-2016 and the adhesion standards mentioned above. There are no references to ISO 12944 or ISO 9223. One of the annexes uses service condition indices C1–C5 for metal structures, but this is the norms’ own classification: they establish no correspondence with the ISO 12944-2 categories.

QR 04.01-23: execution and acceptance of work

Construction Regulation QR 04.01-23 was approved by Order of the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services No. 347 of 31.10.2023 and replaced KMK 3.04.02-97. It applies to the construction, extension, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of enterprises, buildings and facilities — to the protection of metal, concrete, reinforced concrete and brick structures, and to coatings on process equipment exposed to aggressive industrial environments and groundwater. The regulation sets general requirements for work on the construction site, including the minimum air and surface temperature during coating application depending on the type of material, and the inspection procedure:

  • the results of production control are recorded in the corrosion protection work log (form in Annex 1);
  • intermediate work — the prepared substrate, priming, individual coats — is accepted as it is completed and recorded in acceptance reports;
  • on acceptance of the finished coating, its continuity, bond to the substrate and thickness are checked;
  • after all work is complete, the coating is accepted with a formal acceptance report (form in Annex 2); methods for checking quality indicators are given in Annex 3.

We have not found a separate lex.uz record for the regulation: the text is attached as a file to the record of the repealed KMK 3.04.02-97 and is included in the list of construction regulations in the Ministry’s catalogue.

Interstate GOST standards and international standards

  • Under Law No. ZRU-800 “On Standardization” of 03.11.2022, the following apply in Uzbekistan: national standards (O’zMSt), international and regional standards, and standards of foreign countries. International, regional and foreign standards apply on a par with national ones on the basis of a decision by the national standardization body to put them into effect. The national body is the Uzbek Institute of Standards of the Uzbek Agency for Technical Regulation under the Cabinet of Ministers.
  • The procedure for applying interstate standards is set out in O’z DSt 1.7:1998: the republic applies the standards whose adoption Uzbekistan voted for, and applies them directly, without reissuing them as national standards.
  • According to the lists of the Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification, Uzbekistan voted for GOST 34667 — the interstate version of ISO 12944 (Parts 1–7 and 9; it joined Part 8 later) — and for GOST 35271-2025 (ISO 19840), GOST 31993-2024 (ISO 2808), GOST 32299-2025 (ISO 4624), GOST 31149-2014 (ISO 2409) and GOST 35094-2024. Check the date on which a particular standard was put into effect in Uzbekistan with the Uzbek Institute of Standards.
  • We have not found national standards adopting ISO 12944, ISO 8501-1, ISO 2409 or ISO 4624 in official sources. The catalogue of standards of the Ministry’s research institute now includes national standards identical to European standards on the protection and repair of concrete, for example O’zMSt EN 1542:2025 on bond strength by pull-off; check their status with the Institute of Standards.
  • We have not found a technical regulation with requirements for paints and coatings in official sources.

Who is responsible

  • The Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services approves urban planning norms and construction regulations; the catalogues of codes in force are kept by its research institute for technical norms and standardization.
  • The Uzbek Agency for Technical Regulation under the Cabinet of Ministers and its Uzbek Institute of Standards — the national standardization body.
  • Design expert review — corrosion protection solutions are checked as part of the design documentation.

Typical design sequence

  • Collect the input data required by ShNK 2.03.11-24: climate, humidity regime, ground and groundwater investigations, composition of gases and aerosols, other effects.
  • Determine the degree of aggressive exposure for each group of structures, taking into account the service life and the responsibility class.
  • Select primary, secondary and, where necessary, special protection measures.
  • For steel, specify the coating group and thickness to Annex 18, the surface preparation to GOST 9.402-2004 and the adhesion requirements.
  • If the client requires ISO 12944, also state categories C1–CX or Im1–Im4 and the durability range, and make sure the system meets both sets of requirements.
  • During the work, keep the log required by QR 04.01-23 and issue reports for intermediate work and the coating acceptance report.

What Uzbek regulations do not yet cover

There is no official Russian text of ShNK 2.03.11-24 — Russian-speaking designers have to work from translations. Our full English and Russian translations are on the page ShNK 2.03.11-24 in English. The norms establish no correspondence between their degrees of aggressiveness and the ISO 12944-2 categories, and we have not found a national adoption of ISO 12944. So on facilities where requirements come from two systems, justifying the environment and selecting the coating system remain the designer’s task — best settled before the materials are purchased.

Need your corrosion protection solutions brought in line with ShNK 2.03.11-24 or reconciled with ISO 12944 requirements? We will select the system, thicknesses and inspection procedure for your facility. Phone, WhatsApp, Telegram: +998 94 094 52 27. E-mail: info@ognezashita.uz.