RAAC Assessment in Cookham
Structured Carbon carries out RAAC structural assessments for buildings in Cookham and across Berkshire. Unusually, the surveyor and the assessing engineer are one team: Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, gathers the evidence, and John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, assesses it. Nothing is lost in translation between the two.
- Assessed by John Staves, CEng FIStructE MIoD, a chartered engineer who specialises in RAAC
- Built on survey and scanning evidence from Neil Smuts, MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP
- Panel-by-panel: what can stay in use, what needs propping, what needs monitoring
- Strengthen-or-replace answered honestly, with the cost picture
Based in Finchampstead, Wokingham. Cookham is local to us.
Inside the assessment
A RAAC assessment is an engineering judgement, and it is only as good as the evidence it starts from. Ours starts from a survey and scanning record gathered by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, with the assessing engineer's questions already in mind. John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, then classifies every panel against the current Institution of Structural Engineers guidance, identifies anything needing immediate action, sets out a monitoring and management position for the rest, and gives a clear view on whether strengthening in place is realistic for the building.
Why the assessment decides the budget
An assessment that only says "replace" has not done its job. Some panels are beyond saving and the assessment will say so, but many roofs can be strengthened in place with carbon fibre reinforced polymer designed to the exact capacity required, and the building kept open while it is done. Across the RAAC tenders we cost, a bespoke CFRP scheme engineered for that exact roof frequently comes in at well below 15 per cent of the cost of full replacement. On one tender, a roof costed at around £40 million to replace was priced for strengthening at under £4 million.
The assessment for your building in Cookham sets out which route applies and why, so that you can take a costed decision rather than a default one.
From inspection to a management and remediation strategy in Cookham
Which school RAAC surveyors can also provide a management and remediation strategy following inspection? The answer is a team where the surveyor, the inspecting engineer and the designer of the strengthening are the same people. For schools, academy trusts, NHS estates, councils and building owners in Cookham, the engineering inspection and structural assessment end in a written strategy: what is managed, what is monitored, what is strengthened, and in what order. Priced per building; a visual survey alone starts from £395.
Cookham and the RAAC era
Around 5,200 people live in Cookham, a Thames village known for Stanley Spencer, with Cookham Rise around the Marlow branch station. It falls under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, and it carries village schools and halls, some extended in the post-war decades. If a building in Cookham has a flat roof and dates from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, RAAC should be ruled in or out rather than assumed absent.
Prioritising buildings in Cookham
Not every building in Cookham needs a RAAC assessment, and we would rather tell you that than sell you one. The ones that do are flat-roofed, date from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, and have never had RAAC confirmed or excluded by scanning. Under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead that generally means village schools and halls, some extended in the post-war decades. Ranked by occupancy and by the consequence of a failure, that list usually puts schools, health buildings and places of assembly first, then offices and industrial units.
What you receive
Expect a single signed assessment from John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, covering every surveyed panel and ending with a plain recommendation. It is the document your insurer, your funder and your board will ask for, and it is the document the CFRP design is built from if strengthening goes ahead. If the building in Cookham has not been surveyed, the survey comes first and the two arrive together.
Practicalities
We can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days, and the report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required. Evening, weekend and holiday visits are no problem, which matters for occupied buildings in Cookham. Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis, and every assessment is signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, which is what trusts, NHS estates, insurers and funders look for.
Two named specialists, one team
Neil Smuts, MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP
Survey, scanning and monitoring. President, UK Concrete Scanning StandardNeil leads the survey, scanning and monitoring side of every Structured Carbon project. He is President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard, a member of the Chartered Institute of Building and the Institute of NDT, and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals. LinkedIn
John Staves, CEng FIStructE MIoD
Structural assessment and CFRP designJohn is a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. He carries out the structural assessment and designs every strengthening scheme. John received both the Regional and the National Innovation Award at the HSBC Commercial Banking and Federation of Small Businesses Small Business Growth Awards for his work on RAAC repair. LinkedIn
Thank you, we have your enquiry
One of the team will come back to you within one working day. If it is urgent, call +44 118 430 8430.
RAAC assessment FAQs
What are the RAAC risk categories?
The Institution of Structural Engineers guidance places each RAAC panel in a risk category based on its condition, bearing, deflection, cracking and exposure to water, from panels needing no immediate action to panels needing action now. The assessment states the category for every panel in the building and what each category requires.
What does a RAAC structural inspection cost?
It is priced per building, because size, access and the level of detail required vary enormously; a large hospital estate and a village hall are not the same job. As a guide, a visual RAAC survey starts from £395. A full engineering inspection of a large or complex building, a hospital for example, is priced per building once we know its size, access and the level of detail required.
Who carries out the RAAC assessment?
John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. He carries out all of the structural calculations and assessments for Structured Carbon.
Do I need a survey before an assessment?
Yes. The assessment is an engineering judgement on evidence, and the evidence comes from the survey. If your building in Cookham has not been surveyed, we do that first, led by Neil Smuts, and deliver the two together.
Can you assess from someone else's survey?
Sometimes. If an existing survey records what the assessment needs, panel by panel, we can work from it. Where it does not, we will say what is missing rather than assess on thin evidence.
What guidance is the assessment based on?
The current Institution of Structural Engineers guidance on RAAC, which is the reference used across the UK for classifying panels and deciding actions.
Will the assessment tell me to replace the roof?
Only if that is the right answer. Some panels are beyond strengthening and the assessment will say so. Many roofs can be strengthened in place with bespoke CFRP at a fraction of replacement cost, and the assessment sets out whether yours is one of them. Where strengthening is right, it is done with the UK's first CFRP system designed specifically for RAAC, insurer approved and extensively tested.
Also in Cookham
RAAC survey in Cookham
RAAC survey in Cookham, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
RAAC survey in CookhamRAAC scanning in Cookham
RAAC scanning in Cookham, Berkshire: non-destructive identification of RAAC planks and their reinforcement by Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
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Related: RAAC strengthening, RAAC remediation in Berkshire, RAAC confirmed buildings register, RAAC in schools.