NSAI welcomes publication of MICA report

The National Standards Authority of Ireland has welcomed the publication this week of an independent expert report into defective concrete blocks.
Up to 5,000 homes built between 1999 and 2010 could be effected by the blocks that, because of a deviation from then existing standards, contained to much Mica and Pyrtie and weren’t fit for use.
NSAI Chief Executive Geraldine Larkin said she hoped that calls from the expert panel for more meaningful on-site inspections and enforcement by building control personnel would usher in a new era of stronger building control enforcement.
She said the report highlights the serious problems that can be encountered when standards are ignored adding that while the masonry and aggregate standards in Ireland during the period in question were robust, but standards are only of value if they are applied.
The Report on Concrete Blocks, published this week, makes a number of recommendations, including one that NSAI develops a simple standardised protocol to assess and categorise the damage in affected properties.
The NSAI is now consulting with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on how best to implement this recommendation.