Why choose COLORBOND® steel?

Pembroke Middle School COLORBOND steel Basalt in a Matt finish

COLORBOND® steel, made by BlueScope is one of Australia's most loved building products and with over 50 years since it first rolled off a paint-line, COLORBOND® steel has earned its position as an iconic Australian brand. You can design and specify with confidence, knowing that COLORBOND® steel is created with beauty, durability, performance, compliance and sustainability top of mind.

Product range

With a wide range of colours and finishes, COLORBOND® steel is an ideal building material for a range of building applications that demand good looks and design flexibility. Its full range of colours – encompassing pale, mid and deep tones in Classic, Matt or Metallic finishes – practically and elegantly complements many of our most celebrated commercial, industrial and communal buildings, and the environments in which they stand.

And for Australian severe marine and industrial environments, COLORBOND® Ultra steel offers extra assurance by providing another level of specialist protection and durability.

COLORBOND® Coolmax® steel is specifically designed as BlueScope’s ultimate product for cool roofing performance. As BlueScope's highest solar reflective product, COLORBOND® Coolmax® steel may help to reduce roofing temperatures and keep the building cooler1.

Durable Performance

BlueScope constantly works, in collaboration with key suppliers, to develop industry leading coatings for COLORBOND® steel, the combination of which is exclusive to BlueScope and contains proprietary intellectual property. Through its longstanding outdoor exposure and accelerated laboratory testing program designed to replicate some of the harshest Australian conditions and built environment, BlueScope understands the detailed physical and chemical mechanisms of protective steel coating systems in these challenging environments, and continually innovates for improved durability and performance.

COLORBOND steel outdoor exposure testing

Versatile in Design

Able to be formed into a wide variety of rollformed profiles, COLORBOND® steel’s inherent properties make it a truly versatile design solution. Combined strength and formability allows COLORBOND® steel to mimic the form of a wide range of structural designs and complement the curves and lines of their exteriors.

Industry Leading Protective Coating Technology

COLORBOND® steel is reassuringly strong and durable. Our high-quality steel is coated in a metallic coating incorporating Activate® technology2 to provide enhanced corrosion resistance. A thin pre-treatment layer is applied to optimise the adhesion of further coatings then a corrosion inhibitive primer is baked onto the surface. A topcoat of specially developed, exterior grade paint is then baked on to ensure the finish continues to retain its look for longer.

Warranty

When you specify COLORBOND® steel, you’re also benefiting from the support of BlueScope, one of Australia’s largest manufacturers. COLORBOND® steel is renowned for its durability and is backed up by some of the construction industry’s most robust building product warranties for eligible applicants3. For further information, please visit the BlueScope Warranties website.

Thermal Performance

Thermatech® solar reflectanceCOLORBOND® steel’s core colour range in the Classic and Matt finish (excluding Night Sky®) features our scientifically designed Thermatech® solar reflectance technology.

Thermatech® technology reflects more of the sun’s heat on hot, sunny days which may help reduce your dependence on air conditioning4. Using less energy to cool buildings can help occupants save money on energy costs.

Cool Roofing Colours

Choosing a COLORBOND® steel colour with a lower solar absorptance helps to create cooler roofs that may help improve the energy efficiency of your building and contribute to cooler local environments. There are eleven (11) colours in the COLORBOND® steel cool roofing colour range all featuring low Solar Absorptance (SA) values of less than or equal to 0.45.

For BlueScope's highest solar reflectance prepainted steel product, consider COLORBOND® Coolmax® steel (available in the colour Whitehaven®) which has been specifically designed to provide and maintain high solar reflectance1.

Fire Performance

Roofing, walling, gutters and downpipes made from COLORBOND® steel may be used as part of a compliant system in bushfire prone areas, including in the most extreme, BAL-FZ (Bushfire Attack Level – Flame Zone) as defined in AS 3959:2018. For further information, please visit: Bushfire Design for Residential and Low Rise Buildings.

Conforms to Australian Standards and Codes

Manufactured by BlueScope, COLORBOND® steel conforms to relevant Australian Standards, including AS 1397:2021 and AS/NZS 2728:2013 and the 'deemed-to-satisfy' provisions of the NCC (National Construction Code).

Contributing to a More Sustainable Future

BlueScope has a long-standing commitment to developing innovative, responsible products and services. So you can design and specify with confidence, knowing that COLORBOND® steel is created with durability, performance, compliance and sustainability top of mind.

Circular Economy Credentials

Steel is strong, durable, and versatile and its inherent properties allow it to be reused or recycled without loss of quality over and over again. To help support a more sustainable ‘circular economy’, every COLORBOND® steel product incorporates recycled material5 and the steel itself is 100% recyclable. Moreover, COLORBOND® steel’s proven longevity helps keep resources in use for longer, which can help conserve resources and energy that may otherwise be invested in products with shorter life spans.

Three Capes Track walking lodges COLORBOND steel Mounument

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD’s)

EPDs transparently present the environmental impacts of products based on their life cycle assessment (LCA). They are third-party verified and are a credible source of product environmental information. EPDs also contribute points to green building rating tools such as Green Star and Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating. EPDs are available for select COLORBOND® steel products.

Global GreenTagCertTM Certification

Selected COLORBOND® steel products have achieved Global GreenTagCertTMGreenRateTM Level A certification4. GreenRateTM is a robust and comprehensive third-party verified ecolabelling program, recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council. Specifying products with GreenRateTM can be a fast, cost-effective means for projects to earn points under their respective tools, Green Star and Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating.

Acknowledgements

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BlueScope - updated May 2023

  1. Results will depend on roof colour, level and location of insulation, type and location of building shape and function.
  2. Activate® technology is not available for COLORBOND® Intramax® steel and COLORBOND® steel products with a galvanised steel substrate.
  3. Warranties are subject to exclusions, application, and eligibility criteria. For full terms and conditions and to determine the eligibility of your product for the warranty visit bluescopesteel.com.au/warranties or contact BlueScope on 1800 800 789. Warranties provided by BlueScope do not affect consumer rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
  4. This applies to COLORBOND® steel with Activate® technology in the 22 core colours in the Classic finish for exterior roofing and walling (0.42mm and 0.48mm).
  5. Across the range of steel products manufactured by BlueScope in Australia, the average recycled content (according to recycled content categories defined in ISO 14021:2016) in the steel is 17.4%, which includes pre- and post-consumer recycled materials. Scrap and iron-bearing materials generated and reclaimed from BlueScope’s steelmaking, coating and painting operations represent an additional 6.8% recovered content, which is not reported as recycled content. Scrap from rollforming and fabrication processes are included as pre-consumer recycled content. The figures provided represent our best estimate at the time of publication. For more information please contact BlueScope Steel Direct on 1800 753 658.