Cast iron is more competitive says independent report

An independent study by a leading firm of UK quantity surveyors has highlighted that cast iron drainage installations are much closer in competitiveness to other materials.

The partnership of EC Harris says in its study that new cast iron systems can be significantly more competitive than plastic or clay in several areas.

EC Harris compared the relative costs of plastic, clay, traditional cast iron and new BSEN877 cast iron systems. They found that new cast iron was more competitive in three major areas - purchase costs due to efficient manufacture, installation and labour costs, and maintenance costs.

These findings are not reflected in many building pricing books, though SPONS, produced by Davis Langdon and Everest, and Griffiths Price Books now carry prices based on the new EC Harris research. This research illustrates that cast iron is actually quicker and cheaper to install than PVC solvent weld in terms of labour costs.

A spokesman for the Cast Iron Drainage Development Authority said that old perceptions of high cost were based on old cast iron systems, but new cast iron products were a very different story and urges specifiers and installers to evaluate the new cast iron BSEN877 systems for themselves.

"EC Harris carried out detailed on-site work measurement studies to BS3138 standard on both above and below ground systems. They found that the time taken to place, couple and level the new cast iron drainage units was far less than for traditional systems, and less than times quoted in costing books.

"The study also demonstrated that cast iron systems save time and cost by requiring less bedding in trenches, less support in suspended locations and less fire-proofing and sound insulation when compared to plastic or clay systems," he said.

Other benefits of cast iron systems also have an indirect effect on cost. Cast iron is less likely to suffer physical damage in exposed situations and is less likely to be damaged during construction work.

Cast iron also requires minimal maintenance, and in normal use will last the full 60 years normally taken as a building's life. In the long term, cost-in-use calculations often indicate that cast iron is the more economic alternative.

Additionally, the business risk associated with the failure of a drainage system has to be taken into account in any cost benefit analysis. This could take on significant proportions in the case of revenue sensitive operations such as supermarkets, or high priority use buildings such as supermarkets.

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