Ms Mair?ad Phelan:

A construction product, as I said, may comply with the requirements of the construction products regulations, but that does not mean it is fit for its intended use in the circumstances and the conditions in which it is to be used. For example, a block that might be suitable in west Wicklow with a nice fine climate – the sunny south east – may not be suitable in the most highly exposed area in Europe on the west of Ireland. That goes for all products. It is then the designer’s responsibility to check the declaration of performance and the essential characteristics and then check the circumstances and conditions they are using it in. They may have to adapt that product and look at how they will render that product and the external rendering. They have to go back then to their SR 325, which is the bible for masonry construction in Ireland under Eurocode 6. It can be fit and comply, but then it must be looked at in use. That is the performance in use test.