RAAC Assessment in Maidenhead
Structured Carbon carries out RAAC structural assessments for buildings in Maidenhead 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. Maidenhead is local to us.
Inside the assessment
For a building in Maidenhead, 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.
Replacement is not the default
For a governing body, a trust board or a council property committee in Maidenhead, 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 risk categories and what they mean for Maidenhead
The Institution of Structural Engineers guidance places RAAC panels in risk categories from those needing no immediate action to those needing action now. The category depends on condition, bearing, deflection, cracking and exposure to water, which is why an assessment needs an inspection with measurements behind it, not a walk-through. For a school, academy, hospital or council building in Maidenhead, the assessment sets out which category each panel falls in, what that requires, and how the roof can be managed, monitored or strengthened so the building stays in use. The assessment is signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and is priced per building; a visual survey alone starts from £395.
RAAC in Maidenhead
We know Maidenhead well: it is an Elizabeth line terminus with a town centre regeneration programme replacing 1960s and 1970s office and car park structures, with a run of 1960s and 1970s office, car park, school and leisure buildings, many now being refurbished or replaced, and around 67,400 residents under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Ask the RAAC assessment question of any flat-roofed building here that predates the mid 1990s, because that is where RAAC planks were used.
A practical starting point in Maidenhead
If you are responsible for buildings in Maidenhead, start with a list. Which of them have flat or low-pitched roofs, and which were built or extended between the 1950s and the mid 1990s? In the the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead area that will usually take in a run of 1960s and 1970s office, car park, school and leisure buildings, many now being refurbished or replaced. Anything on that list that has never had RAAC ruled in or out is a candidate for a RAAC assessment. Send us the list and we will tell you which buildings justify a visit, and which can be cleared from the desk with drawings alone.
What you receive
You get one document you can act on and put in front of a board, a trust, a governing body or an insurer: the classification of every panel, what must happen now, what should be monitored, and whether the roof is a candidate for strengthening in place. It is signed by John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. If your building has not yet been surveyed, start with our RAAC survey in Maidenhead; the assessment follows from it.
What you can rely on
Three things matter to the people who have to act on a RAAC assessment in Maidenhead: who signed it, how quickly it arrives, and whether the firm behind it is properly insured. Every assessment is signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, which is what trusts, NHS estates, insurers and funders look for. The report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required, and we can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days. Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis.
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 Maidenhead?
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 Maidenhead 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.
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