Mr. John Wickham:

If we go back to the chain of responsibility, it starts with the manufacturers. The manufacturers should make it in accordance with the harmonised European standard, taking into account the national provisions that exist, with certain limitations on performance that are stipulated in Standard Recommendation 16 produced by the NSAI. Through this process, the manufacturers must engage with the third-party independent notified body to ensure they have competent factory production control to have repeatability of a compliant product being placed on the market.

The manufacturers must engage with a petrographer to assess the quarried material and have a professional geologist make a statement of compliance on the suitability of that quarried material for a variety of intended uses. On that basis, they make a declaration of performance for the market. When it gets used in a building, equally there is a chain of custody of responsibility for those who specify, procure and put together the materials.