Written answers

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

EU Directives

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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540. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the maximum allowable limit of Muscovite in building blocks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46139/14]

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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541. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the testing procedure in place for the content of building blocks; if he will indicate who conducts and carries responsibility for such testing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46140/14]

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 540 and 541 together.

Under Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC (known as the Construction Products Regulation or the “CPR”), manufacturers are required to provide robust and reliable information in a consistent way for construction products which are covered by harmonised European standards or European Technical Assessments. In broad terms, since 1 July 2013, manufacturers are required, when placing a construction product on the market, to make a Declaration of Performance (DoP) and to affix the CE mark when a product covered by a harmonised European standard, or a European Technical Assessment (ETA), is placed on the market. The DoP serves to deliver the information about the essential characteristics of the product that a manufacturer wants to make available to the market. The manufacturer, by drawing up a DoP, assumes responsibility for the conformity of the construction product with the declared performances.

Harmonised European standards provide the methods and the criteria for assessing the performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics. In order to ensure that the DoPs for specific products are accurate and reliable, the performance of the construction products shall be assessed and their production in the factory shall be controlled to ensure that the products will continue to have the same performances. This is achieved by applying a system of Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP) for each family of construction products.

The harmonised European standard includes the technical data necessary for the implementation of the AVCP system including third party oversight (determined as proportionate to the level of risk involved) which the manufacturer is required to comply with. In addition, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has also produced additional guidance to some harmonised European standards in the form of National Annexes or Standard Recommendations which set out appropriate minimum performance levels for specific intended uses of certain products in Ireland.

The EN 771 series of standards cover the specification for masonry units. I.S. EN 771-3: 2011 Specification for masonry units - Part 3: Aggregate concrete masonry units (Dense and lightweight aggregates) is the relevant harmonised European standard for concrete blocks. This standard specifies the characteristics and performance requirements of aggregate concrete masonry units made from dense and lightweight aggregates for which the main intended uses are common, facing or exposed masonry in load bearing or non-load bearing building and civil engineering applications.

Specific guidance on the minimum acceptable performances for concrete blocks for use in Ireland to supplement the harmonised European standard is included in the NSAI Standard Recommendation, S.R. 325:2013+A1:2014 Recommendations for the use of masonry structures in Ireland to Eurocode 6. S.R. 325 provides guidance on strength, moisture movement, reaction to fire etc. and crucially requires the aggregates for use in dense concrete blocks to comply with I.S. EN 12620. This is important given that the NSAI has also produced a Standard Recommendation entitled S.R. 16 Guidance on the use of I.S. EN 12620:2002 - Aggregates for concrete which includes an example specification in its Annex A covering grading, strength, durability, chemical composition etc. applicable to most general uses of aggregates in concrete in Ireland.

S.R. 325 also provides guidance on the choice of masonry units and mortar classes most appropriate for particular situations as regards durability for finished work. To this end, S.R. 325 recommends that Category 1 masonry units (units with a declared compressive strength with a probability of failure to reach it not exceeding 5%) be used, requiring oversight by a third party known as a notified body for the purposes of performing an initial inspection of the factory and of the factory production control and for undertaking continuous surveillance, assessment and approval of the factory production control.

Notified bodies are the only recognised third party bodies that can carry out the conformity assessments laid down in the harmonised European standards or the European Technical Assessments. A list of all officially designated notified bodies under the Construction Products Regulation is available on the European Union’s New Approach Notified and Designated Organisations (NANDO) Information System.

Responsibility for demonstrating a construction product’s compliance with the requirements of the Construction Products Regulation and the applicable harmonised European standard rests with the manufacturer although obligations are also imposed on both the importers an d distributors of such products.

Under the European Union (Construction Products) Regulations 2013, building control authorities have been designated as the principal market surveillance authorities for construction products that fall within the remit of Construction Products Regulation. Under these Regulations, market surveillance authorities have significant powers to deal with situations where constructions products are placed on the market which do not comply with the requirements set out in the Construction Products Regulation.

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