The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) is to shortly publish a survey of all construction suppliers, in a bid to stop pyrite materials finding their way on to construction sites.  The CIF announced they were undertaking their survey during the course of their annual conference which took place in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

The CIF is concerned that despite the existing safeguards that are in place, pyritic materials are still being supplied to construction companies.  They have written to all construction suppliers asking them to provide details of what regulations they are following to prevent pyrite being included in construction materials. The CIF will publish the results of that survey in one month’s time.

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The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) recently published enhanced standards for building materials and gave specific guidance for dealing with construction supplies.  Under the updated standards, construction companies are asked to check the materials they receive are compliant and to request the correct documentation to this effect from the supplier upon delivery.

However, pyrite materials were recently found on a construction site despite all the proper checks being undertaken.  The industry is concerned that this problem may occur again if the proper standards are not being followed by all construction suppliers.

“We have seen too many construction projects damaged by building materials that have contained pyrite,” said CIF President Philip Crampton.  “This is not acceptable.  It has lead to damage to people’s houses and their properties.  Too many people have seen their homes ruined by pyrite.  It has also resulted in construction projects being completely demolished and building work having to start again from scratch.

“No one in the construction sector wants to see pyrite in the projects they have completed.  However the fact is that the construction industry is at the mercy of the supplies they are provided with.  We want to use high quality, compliant products that are pyrite free.  But we don’t have the capacity to test our materials on site. The responsibility for delivering pyrite free products has to rest with the suppliers.

“We need better safeguards in the supply chain to prevent pyrite materials from getting onto construction sites.  The construction industry has to reduce the risk of pyrite finding its way into the properties we build.

“This is an extremely serious situation that needs to be urgently addressed.  So we have taken further action.  We have written to all the suppliers of building materials in this country to find out what regulations they are following to ensure their supplies are certified.  Our next step will be to publish the results of that survey in the coming month.  So if any supplier has not provided details then we will state that in our report.

“We can’t allow defective materials to make their way on to construction sites.  If we are to curtail the destructive capacity of pyrite then we need to cut it off at the source,” Mr. Crampton concluded.