The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, has today published the Report of the Market Surveillance of Construction Products produced from County Donegal Quarries.
Formal and technical compliance with the requirements of the CPR for concrete blocks and aggregates for concrete being placed on the market by seventeen economic operators Donegal was checked as part of the audit.
The audit found that, in general, there was a level of formal non-compliance with the requirements of the Construction Products Regulation among economic operators in Donegal.
These issues primarily related to errors in and omissions of the paperwork, and the report states that this generally did not reflect a concern with the tested performance of the products themselves.
Formal corrective actions were required in relation to three economic operators. Two in respect of concrete blocks, and one in relation to aggregates.
This involved adjustments to factory production control processes and/or recertification audits by the Notified Body with a view to bringing the products back into compliance with the CPR to the satisfaction of the Market Surveillance Authorities (NBCMSO and DCC) and GSI.
The process of addressing these issues is ongoing by the economic operators.
Concrete blocks were sampled from nine manufacturers in Donegal and sent for testing to determine the level of technical compliance with I.S. EN 771-3: Specification for Masonry Units2.
The results of the tests carried out show that all the concrete blocks sampled met the declared performance levels on the required technical documentation.
This involved adjustments to factory production control processes and/or recertification audits by the Notified Body with a view to bringing the products back into compliance with the CPR to the satisfaction of the Market Surveillance Authorities (NBCMSO and DCC) and GSI.
The process of addressing these issues is ongoing by the economic operators.
The report concludes with several Recommendations aimed at improving the levels of compliance with the CPR among Concrete Block manufacturers and the producers of Aggregates for use in Concrete.
In addition, there are recommendations contained within the report of Geological Survey Ireland relating to further research required on the specific areas of mica and sulphide presence, in order to inform potential changes to the current standards and professional geologists’ guidance.
As a result of the audit, corrective actions were taken against three economic operators by the Market Surveillance Authorities, which are now complete or in the process of being completed to the satisfaction of the authorities.
The purpose of this audit was to evaluate, in county Donegal, the relevant economic operators’ (concrete block manufacturers and quarries producing aggregates for concrete), compliance with the Construction Products Regulation when placing concrete blocks or aggregates for concrete on the market.
This audit was undertaken, at Minister O’Brien’s request, by the National Building Control & Market Surveillance Office in partnership with Donegal County Council and Geological Survey Ireland in Q3 of 2021.
The report is available here – https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/d01d7-report-of-the-market-surveillance-of-construction-products-produced-from-county-donegal-quarries-20212022/
