The Case For Brick

1. Cost

Brick is the most cost-effective choice of all common cladding materials. The Royal institution of chartered surveyors undertook a survey to compare brickwork with other materials. This showed in every case that the use of brickwork made significant cost savings. This was then supported by further analysis of over 45 actual build quantities and their real costs.

Ove Arup, the world's leading building consultants were commissioned by Ibstock to analyse the costs of building the like-for-like structures of identical performance in brickwork, and in the common types of render.

Both studies showed that the installed cost of brickwork is significantly less than all other cladding materials.

2. Enviromental

• Bricks are durable and have a long life in excess of 150 years with minimal maintenance
• Green Guide constructions using brick are A or A+ rated
• Bricks have an Ecopoint rating of just 1.1
• Ibstock bricks have a high recycled content, typically in excess of 18%
• Our bricks have a low carbon footprint, made in some of the most efficient brickworks in the world they produce on average 28 kg of carbon dioxide per m² of brickwork
• Choosing our bricks is a responsible sourcing decision as all our factories operate to ISO 14001 - the environmental standard and with 24 sites across the country our average delivery mileage is just 80 miles

Cladding Option	Cost m²	% more than Brickwork	Source Analysis
Brickwork (stretcher bond)	£41.38	0	ARUP cost model
Render: Cement/Sand/Lime	£44.50	7.5%	ARUP cost model
Render: Polymer Modified (STO)	£53.58	29.5%	ARUP cost model
Render: Insulated (STO Therm Classic)	£79.67	92.5%	ARUP cost model
Cedar weatherboarding on blockwork	£100.36	143%	RICS cost survey
Steel Profile Sheet	£73.36	77.6%	RICS cost survey
Eternit Lamina on Blockwork	£180.44	336%	RICS cost survey
Trespa high pressure laminate on block	£289.58	600%	RICS cost survey
Glass block walling	£249.97	504%	RICS cost survey
Schuco double glazed curtain walling	£411.88	895%	RICS cost survey
Natural Stone	£132.00	219%	RICS cost survey

3. Durability

Brickwork has proven durability; Polymer Modified and Insulated render systems have been on sale in the UK market for only approximately 20 years. Ibstock offers a 60 year warranty, most major render manufacturers will offer an optional insurance backed warranty for between 10 to 20 years. The may be an additional charge for this.

4. Availability

MACE, the leading main contractor conducts a quarterly lead time survey, not surprisingly brickwork has the shortest lead of all cladding materials. This indicates that there is no skills or labour shortage to lay bricks.

Lead times survey - October 2007

5. Summary

• Using brick actually saves money.......
  It has the lowest cost of any common cladding material
• Using brick saves time.......
  It has the shortest lead time to start on site and needs just 1 trade on site to finish the job
• Using brick is good for the environment......
  It is durable and natural finish needing not treatments or preservatives and is virtually maintenance free!