Roof tile group warns of cheap imports

The Clay Roof Tile Council (CRTC) is calling on industry to exercise due care when selecting clay roof tiles, due to a recent increase in cheap imports.

CRTC's concern follows the recent increase in the importation of cheaper clay roof tiles from countries like Poland, Turkey and India, where there are no industry standards regulating the quality and reliability of the product.

"If something goes wrong on the roof as a result of using cheaper imported roof tiles, what recourse does the specifier have?," said CRTC chairman Neil Tobin.

"As far as we know, many of these countries do not have any formal regulations or legislative controls in place to ensure that all tiles are tested against industry standard which proved they are suitable for the UK climate.

"The UK clay roof tile industry adheres to very stringent regulations and legislative guidelines enforced by the EU and the government, which are designed to protect the specifier and the end-user from using inferior clay roof tiles," he said.

"However, there are some countries that do not have the same levels of scrutiny and quality-control but can export their products to the UK. The specifier or end-user could face a potentially serious situation if the imported product fails." 

Despite the threat from imported clay roof tiles, the UK clay roof tile industry is in a healthy position with year-on-year record sales over the last decade, so imported clay tiles are unlikely to pose a serious threat for some time yet. The key concern is whether the product is good enough to withstand the British climate.

"At the moment, the imports are only nibbling away at the edges of the UK clay roof tile sector, but if the issue is ignored it could erode the reputation of the industry," said Tobin.

The problem is not likely to go away in the short term as countries like Poland and Turkey do not have to regulate their clay roof tile manufacturing for another 10 years.

The CRTC recommends that specifiers know what they are buying and carefully weigh up the implications of buying cheaper and possibly inferior products which "may not stand the test of time".