RAAC Scanning in Maidenhead
The most common mistake with RAAC is assuming a panel is ordinary concrete because it looks like it. Scanning removes the guesswork. Structured Carbon scans roofs, floors and walls in Maidenhead to confirm whether a panel is RAAC and to locate its reinforcement, led by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals.
- Led by Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals
- Confirms RAAC and locates its reinforcement without opening up the structure
- Building stays in use; quiet, room-by-room work
- Results feed straight to a chartered RAAC engineer, John Staves CEng FIStructE MIoD
Based in Finchampstead, Wokingham. Maidenhead is local to us.
Why scan rather than look
Two things cannot be seen from below a ceiling: whether a panel is RAAC at all, and where its reinforcement is. Scanning answers both. It separates RAAC from dense concrete by its internal structure, and it maps the reinforcement in each plank, including whether the bars reach the bearings, which is where RAAC planks are most likely to fail. The results are logged to a location plan for every panel scanned, ready for structural assessment.
Who scans your building
Our scanning is led by Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals. The UK Concrete Scanning Standard is the national standard for concrete scanning, and Neil leads it. That matters because scanning is only as good as the person interpreting it: RAAC, voids, dense concrete and previous repairs can all look alike to an untrained operator. Every scan we carry out in Maidenhead is read by the person who owns the Assess stage of our RAACSafe™ Protocol, and the results go directly to John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, for assessment.
RAAC testing without opening up: what scanning replaces in Maidenhead
Before scanning, confirming RAAC meant cutting an opening or taking a core. Neither is needed now. Non-destructive scanning identifies the material, locates the reinforcement and checks bearings from the surface, so a school, clinic, hall or office in Maidenhead is surveyed with nothing removed and nobody moved out. Where an engineer later needs load or deflection data, that is added as part of the engineering inspection rather than by damaging the roof. Scanning comes with the visual survey, from £395, and with every engineering inspection.
Where RAAC hides 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 scanning question of any flat-roofed building here that predates the mid 1990s, because that is where RAAC planks were used.
Where to begin if you manage property in Maidenhead
The question is not "does Maidenhead have RAAC" but "which of my buildings might". The answer sits in the construction dates. Buildings of the RAAC era in and around Maidenhead, Cookham and Taplow typically include a run of 1960s and 1970s office, car park, school and leisure buildings, many now being refurbished or replaced. Pull the dates for each, note which have flat roofs, and treat every one that fits as unconfirmed until a RAAC scanning says otherwise. We are happy to look at the list with you before anything is booked.
Scanning as part of a RAAC survey
Scanning is usually one part of a full RAAC survey in Maidenhead, alongside the visual and condition inspection of every panel. Where a building has already been surveyed visually and the question is simply "is it RAAC or not", a scanning visit on its own can settle it. Either way the results feed a RAAC assessment by John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, which sets out what can stay in use, what needs action, and whether strengthening in place is a realistic alternative to replacement. 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.
Equipment, experience and insurance
Scanning is only as good as the instruments and the person reading them. We use GSSI Flex NX and GSSI StructureScan Mini ground penetrating radar, Proceq GP8800 and GP8100 radar, the Proceq Pundit PD8050 ultrasonic tomograph, and other electromagnetic and ultrasonic NDT instruments. We have surveyed thousands of square metres of RAAC. Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis.
For Maidenhead, 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.
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 scanning FAQs
What scanning equipment do you use?
GSSI Flex NX and GSSI StructureScan Mini ground penetrating radar, Proceq GP8800 and GP8100 radar, the Proceq Pundit PD8050 ultrasonic tomograph, and other electromagnetic and ultrasonic NDT instruments. We have surveyed thousands of square metres of RAAC with them.
How soon can you scan a building in Maidenhead?
We can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days, and evening, weekend and holiday visits are no problem. The report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required.
Is my roof RAAC or ordinary concrete?
From below you usually cannot tell. Scanning can, in minutes per panel: RAAC's light cellular structure and its reinforcement pattern read very differently from dense concrete. If your building in Maidenhead is flat-roofed and dates from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, a scan is the quickest way to know.
What does RAAC scanning cost?
Scanning is included in the visual survey and in every engineering inspection, so it is not priced separately. 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.
Is RAAC scanning destructive?
No. The scan is carried out from the surface of the panel, usually the underside, with no cutting, coring or drilling. The building stays in use.
Can scanning tell RAAC from ordinary concrete?
Yes. RAAC has a light, cellular internal structure that reads very differently from dense reinforced concrete. That difference, plus the reinforcement pattern, is how a scan confirms the material.
Does the scan show where the reinforcement is?
Yes. Locating the reinforcement, including whether it extends to the bearings, is the main reason to scan RAAC. Bearing length is the single most important factor in how a RAAC plank behaves.
Also in Maidenhead
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RAAC survey in Maidenhead, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
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RAAC structural assessment in Maidenhead, Berkshire, by John Staves CEng FIStructE MIoD, working from Neil Smuts' survey.
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