PVC product guarantees are in the news with a senior executive at a Cork-based firm that employs 200 staff throughout Europe revealing details of a 30-year, transferable assurance on many of its roofline, cladding and rainwater products.

Aidan Harte, the Managing Director of Freefoam Plastics, is based in Cork, from where he oversees all parts of the business in the Irish Republic, the UK and mainland Europe.

Its subsidiary company in Northampton, Freefoam Plastics (U.K.) Ltd., manages the manufacturing, distribution and sales activities for the UK market.

Mr Harte, (pictured) said that it operates to ISO 9001:2008 quality standards for continuous improvement across all operations, processes and procedures to ensure that its customers receive the highest level of quality and service.


"In addition, Freefoam has been a leading advocate of lead-free environmentally friendly manufacturing of PVC roofline products for many years, thus enabling the company to previously offer a 20-year extended guarantee against discolouration on registered installations," he explained, noting that Freefoam is still alone in giving a 10-year guarantee on its coloured profile.

"Having had many years of trouble free performance in all weathers from Scotland to the South of France with our lead free formulations, Freefoam's proprietary Colormax technology and our extra TiO2 UV protection we have now announced our new extended, 30-year guarantee on white roofline, cladding and rainwater goods, " he said, noting that Freefoam's standard guarantee on white products has also been increased to 20 years.

"The guarantee on coloured and foiled product will stay at 10 years while we build up the performance record to support a revision of the period.

"Our intention is however, as we announced in January, to revise this upwards as soon as the evidence enables us to do so," the senior executive concluded.

(BMcC/GK)