RAAC Scanning in Newbury
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 Newbury 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. Newbury is local to us.
What RAAC scanning in Newbury tells you
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.
Scanning led by the national standard
The person holding the scanner decides whether the results mean anything. At Structured Carbon that person is Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, who leads the national standard for concrete scanning and owns the Assess and Monitor stages of our RAACSafe™ Protocol. The results of every scan in Newbury are handed straight to John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, so the same evidence drives the structural assessment and, where it is the right answer, the design of strengthening in place.
RAAC testing without opening up: what scanning replaces in Newbury
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 Newbury 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.
RAAC in Newbury
Newbury sits in the West Berkshire Council area, close to Thatcham, Greenham and Speen. It is Vodafone's headquarters campus, Newbury racecourse and the Kennet Centre redevelopment sit alongside a large stock of 1960s and 1970s commercial concrete, and it holds a large stock of 1960s and 1970s commercial concrete, plus the schools and public buildings that served the town as it grew. That is the building stock the RAAC scanning question applies to: anything with a flat or shallow roof from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, whether school, clinic, hall, leisure centre or office.
Prioritising buildings in Newbury
Not every building in Newbury needs a RAAC scanning, 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 West Berkshire Council that generally means a large stock of 1960s and 1970s commercial concrete, plus the schools and public buildings that served the town as it grew. 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.
Scanning as part of a RAAC survey
Two routes are common in Newbury. Where nobody knows what the roof is made of, scanning is the first step and usually happens inside a full RAAC survey. Where a visual survey has already said "probably RAAC", scanning is the confirmation, and it often adds the one fact the visual survey could not: whether the reinforcement reaches the bearings. In both cases the results go to John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, for a RAAC assessment that answers the strengthen-or-replace question. 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 practical questions, answered
How soon: we can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days. How long: the report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required. When: evening, weekend and holiday visits are no problem. With what: 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. How much experience: we have surveyed thousands of square metres of RAAC. Insured: professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis. Where: Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire are local to us, and we work across the UK, and Newbury is on our doorstep.
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
Who interprets the results?
Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, leads and reads every scan. The results go to John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, for structural assessment.
Can you scan a school in Newbury during term?
Yes. Scanning is quiet, room-by-room work. We plan it around the timetable or use holidays and out-of-hours periods where a school prefers.
Is scanning enough on its own?
It confirms the material and maps the reinforcement. To know what condition the panels are in and what to do, you need the condition survey and a structural assessment as well. We offer all three together as a RAAC survey in Newbury.
What areas do you cover?
We are based in Finchampstead, Wokingham, so Newbury is on our doorstep. Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire are local to us, and we scan RAAC across the UK.
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 Newbury?
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 Newbury is flat-roofed and dates from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, a scan is the quickest way to know.
Also in Newbury
RAAC survey in Newbury
RAAC survey in Newbury, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
RAAC survey in NewburyRAAC assessment in Newbury
RAAC structural assessment in Newbury, Berkshire, by John Staves CEng FIStructE MIoD, working from Neil Smuts' survey.
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Related: RAAC strengthening, RAAC remediation in Berkshire, RAAC confirmed buildings register, RAAC in schools.