RAAC Assessment in Shinfield
A RAAC assessment tells you what the survey findings mean: which panels in a building in Shinfield are safe to keep in use, which need propping or monitoring, and whether the roof can be strengthened in place rather than replaced. At Structured Carbon the assessment is carried out by John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, working directly from the survey by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals.
- 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. Shinfield 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
The standard response to RAAC has been to prop the area and plan a replacement roof. For many buildings that is unnecessary, and for a school, clinic or hall in Shinfield it means decant, temporary accommodation and a programme measured in years. Where the assessment supports it, RAAC planks can be strengthened in place with bespoke CFRP, designed to the capacity the roof actually needs, with the building staying in use. 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.
Because Structured Carbon designs, manufactures, installs and monitors that strengthening, the assessment is not a hand-off to someone else's product. It is the first stage of our RAACSafe™ Protocol: Assess, Design, Manufacture, Install, Monitor.
From inspection to a management and remediation strategy in Shinfield
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 Shinfield, 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.
The buildings in Shinfield this applies to
Around 5,400 people live in Shinfield, the Shinfield Studios film complex and the University of Reading science park sit within a parish of sustained housing growth. It falls under Wokingham Borough Council, and it carries older village buildings and schools next to a great deal of new construction. 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 Shinfield has a flat roof and dates from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, RAAC should be ruled in or out rather than assumed absent.
A practical starting point in Shinfield
If you are responsible for buildings in Shinfield, 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 Wokingham Borough Council area that will usually take in older village buildings and schools next to a great deal of new construction. 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.
The assessment report
The assessment is written to be used, not filed. For each panel in the building in Shinfield: 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 Shinfield.
Turnaround, sign-off and insurance
For a building in Shinfield, 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. 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. Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire are local to us, and we work across the UK.
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
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 Shinfield 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.
Can the building stay in use while it is assessed?
Normally, yes. If the survey has found anything that needs immediate action, such as propping or taking a room out of use, we tell you on the day rather than waiting for the report.
What is the RAACSafe Protocol?
Our five-stage process for RAAC: Assess, Design, Manufacture, Install and Monitor. The assessment is stage one. If strengthening is the answer, the same team carries the building through the other four. Together they ensure safe, quality-controlled delivery throughout. Our instrumented monitoring devices are in active service on RAAC roofs today.
Also in Shinfield
RAAC survey in Shinfield
RAAC survey in Shinfield, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
RAAC survey in ShinfieldRAAC scanning in Shinfield
RAAC scanning in Shinfield, 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.