This document provides guidelines and recommendations regarding the general principles of design which are appropriate for articles to be zinc coated for corrosion protection and the level of corrosion resistance provided by zinc coatings applied to iron or steel articles, exposed to a variety of environments. Initial protection is covered in relation to available standard processes, design considerations, and environments for use. This document applies to zinc coatings applied by the following processes: a) hot dip galvanized coatings (applied after fabrication); b) hot dip galvanized coatings (applied onto continuous sheet); c) sherardized coatings; d) thermal sprayed coatings; e) mechanically plated coatings; f) electrodeposited coatings. These guidelines and recommendations do not deal with the maintenance of corrosion protection in service for steel with zinc coatings. Guidance on this subject can be found in ISO 12944-5 and ISO 12944-8. NOTE There are a variety of product-related standards (e.g. for nails, fasteners, ductile iron pipes, etc.) which provide specific requirements for the applied zinc coating systems which go beyond any general guidance presented in this document. These specific product-related requirements will take precedence over these general recommendations.