RAAC Assessment in Crowthorne
If a survey has found RAAC in a building in Crowthorne, or you suspect it, the next step is a structural assessment by an engineer who understands the material. Ours is John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. He works from surveys led by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, so the assessment starts from evidence gathered with his questions in mind.
- 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. Crowthorne is local to us.
How John Staves assesses RAAC
For a building in Crowthorne, the assessment answers four questions in order. Is it RAAC? What condition is each panel in, and how does that sit against the Institution of Structural Engineers guidance? What needs to happen now, whether that is nothing, propping, restricted use or monitoring? And what is the long-term answer: manage, strengthen or replace? John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, answers all four in writing, from the survey evidence gathered by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals.
Strengthen or replace: the question the assessment must answer
For a governing body, a trust board or a council property committee in Crowthorne, the assessment is the document that decides between two very different futures for the building: months of strengthening with the building in use, or years of replacement with everyone decanted. We write it so that the reasoning is visible, panel by panel, and so that the strengthen-or-replace conclusion can be defended to an insurer, a funder or the Department for Education. 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.
RAAC structural inspection and engineering inspection in Crowthorne
An engineering inspection is the evidence-gathering half of the assessment: scanning for reinforcement and bearing length, measured deflection, cracking, moisture and previous repairs, panel by panel. The structural assessment is the judgement built on it: each panel placed in a risk category against the Institution of Structural Engineers guidance, the immediate actions, the monitoring position, and the strengthen-or-replace recommendation. For schools, academies, NHS estates and councils in Crowthorne, the two are delivered together and signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers. A full engineering inspection of a large or complex building is priced per building; a visual survey, where that is all that is needed, starts from £395.
RAAC in Crowthorne
Around 15,200 people live in Crowthorne, home to Wellington College, Broadmoor Hospital and the Transport Research Laboratory site now being redeveloped for housing. It falls under Bracknell Forest Council, and it carries institutional and school buildings of every period from Victorian to 1980s. Frimley Park Hospital, which serves this part of Berkshire, is a publicly identified RAAC hospital and is being replaced under the New Hospital Programme, which has put RAAC on the agenda for every estates team in the area. If a building in Crowthorne 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 Crowthorne
Not every building in Crowthorne 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 Bracknell Forest Council that generally means institutional and school buildings of every period from Victorian to 1980s. 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.
The assessment report
The assessment is written to be used, not filed. For each panel in the building in Crowthorne: what it is, what condition it is in, how it classifies against the Institution of Structural Engineers guidance, and what should happen to it. For the building as a whole: the immediate actions, the monitoring position, and the strengthen-or-replace recommendation with its reasoning. Signed by John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. Where no survey exists yet, we start with the RAAC survey in Crowthorne.
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 Crowthorne. 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
How quickly can you assess a building in Crowthorne?
We are based in Finchampstead, Wokingham, so 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.
Will my trust, insurer or funder accept the assessment?
Every assessment is signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, which is what trusts, NHS estates, insurers and funders look for. Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis.
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 Crowthorne 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.
Also in Crowthorne
RAAC survey in Crowthorne
RAAC survey in Crowthorne, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
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RAAC scanning in Crowthorne, 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.