RAAC Assessment in Wokingham
A RAAC assessment tells you what the survey findings mean: which panels in a building in Wokingham 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. Wokingham is local to us.
How John Staves assesses RAAC
The assessment takes the survey record for the building in Wokingham, panel by panel, and turns it into engineering conclusions. Each panel is classified on its condition, bearing, cracking, deflection and exposure to water, with reference to the current Institution of Structural Engineers guidance on RAAC. The assessment states which panels can remain in use as they are, which need propping or restricted use now, which should be monitored, and which need intervention.
It then answers the question the budget depends on: can this roof be strengthened in place, or does it need to come out? Where strengthening is viable, the assessment says so and sets out what the scheme would need to achieve.
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 Wokingham 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 Wokingham
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 Wokingham, 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.
Wokingham and the RAAC era
We know Wokingham well: it is a market town with a regenerated centre and some of the largest new housing allocations in the south east on its edges, with post-war schools, a leisure centre estate and civic buildings of the RAAC era, and around 50,300 residents under Wokingham Borough Council. 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. Ask the RAAC assessment question of any flat-roofed building here that predates the mid 1990s, because that is where RAAC planks were used.
RAAC assessment: how to get started in Wokingham
Three pieces of information get a RAAC assessment in Wokingham moving: the age of the building, the type of roof, and any drawings or previous reports you hold. With those we can say whether the building is a realistic RAAC candidate, what the visit would involve, and how long it would take. For estates spread across Wokingham, Winnersh and Barkham, we plan the visits as one programme so that nothing is missed and nothing is surveyed twice.
The assessment report
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 Wokingham has not been surveyed, the survey comes first and the two arrive together.
What you can rely on
Three things matter to the people who have to act on a RAAC assessment in Wokingham: 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
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 Wokingham 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.
How quickly can you assess a building in Wokingham?
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.
Also in Wokingham
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RAAC scanning in Wokingham, 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.