6.1 Conclusions

Costs

- In most countries, FC-sheets or FC-tiles can be produced at a cost of 2 US $ to 4 US $ per square meter. This includes costs for raw-materials, labour, depreciation and interest for initial investment.

- A square meter of a FC-roof including cost for the roof structure varies between 4 US $ to 8 US $, depending on the local situation.

- Our analysis of field-experiences allows the following statement: Compared with other roofing-methods, a FC-roof including roof structure can be built at 2/3 to 3/4 of the cost of a similar roof covered with Asbestos-Cement- or Galvanised-Corrugated- Iron (GCI)-sheets. - The roof-structure will consume half of the investment, the FC-roofing-material the other half. There is no apparent difference in the costs of the roof structure whether FC-tiles or FC-sheets are used.

Economics

- The economics of FCR products depend largely on the life-span of the tiles or sheets and therefore on the quality of production.

- Both, the manufacturer of FCR products and the roof-builder by their actions fundamentally influence the lifespan of the products whether they be sheets or tiles.

- From the technical point of view the life-span of FCR products can be 10 years or more.

- From the economic point of view the life-span of FCR products should be at least 4 years, in order to justify the investment at all

- Economics of FCR are not only valued in costs but in other benefits to a local economy such as: Use of local resources, low initial investment, job creation for both men and women, less involvement of foreign currency than other roofing materials, low transport costs.

- The import component in a FCR product - if any - is in the cement and the plastic for moulds. It is typicially between 30 % and 50 % of the costs of the FCR product, e.g. 0.6 to 2 US $; comparable roofing materials such as GCI-sheets may have an import value of 3 to 6 US $/m²