RAAC Scanning in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
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 Old Windsor and Wraysbury 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. Old Windsor and Wraysbury is local to us.
Why scan rather than look
RAAC scanning is non-destructive testing applied to a specific problem: confirming whether a roof, floor or wall panel in Old Windsor and Wraysbury is reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and if so, where the reinforcement inside it lies. Reinforcement position and bearing length are the two things that decide how a RAAC plank behaves, and both are invisible without scanning. We record them panel by panel with a condition survey, so that the engineer assessing the building works from measurement rather than assumption.
Concrete scanning done to a standard
A scan of a RAAC roof in Old Windsor and Wraysbury is only useful if two people trust it: the surveyor who reads it and the engineer who acts on it. Ours are Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, and John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC. Neil leads the national standard for concrete scanning and owns the Assess and Monitor stages of the RAACSafe™ Protocol; John owns Design. The scan is the first piece of evidence in a chain that can run all the way to a strengthened, monitored roof without leaving the partnership.
Is it RAAC or ordinary concrete? Identification in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
The most common question from schools, academies, NHS estates and councils in Old Windsor and Wraysbury is the simplest one: is this roof RAAC or ordinary concrete? From below they can look identical. Ground penetrating radar and ultrasonic scanning settle it in minutes per panel, because RAAC's light cellular structure and its reinforcement pattern read very differently from dense concrete. The same scan locates the reinforcement and checks whether it reaches the bearings, the single most important fact about a RAAC plank. Scanning is included in our visual survey, from £395, and in every engineering inspection.
Where RAAC hides in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
Around 7,700 people live in Old Windsor and Wraysbury, Thames villages between the reservoirs, close to Heathrow and the M25. It falls under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, and it carries village schools, halls and sports buildings, several of the post-war period. If a building in Old Windsor and Wraysbury has a flat roof and dates from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, RAAC should be ruled in or out rather than assumed absent.
Where to begin if you manage property in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
The question is not "does Old Windsor and Wraysbury have RAAC" but "which of my buildings might". The answer sits in the construction dates. Buildings of the RAAC era in and around Old Windsor and Wraysbury, Windsor and Datchet typically include village schools, halls and sports buildings, several of the post-war period. 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.
Scan, survey, assess
Two routes are common in Old Windsor and Wraysbury. 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 Old Windsor and Wraysbury 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
Can you scan a school in Old Windsor and Wraysbury 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 Old Windsor and Wraysbury.
What areas do you cover?
We are based in Finchampstead, Wokingham, so Old Windsor and Wraysbury 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 Old Windsor and Wraysbury?
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 Old Windsor and Wraysbury 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.
Also in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
RAAC survey in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
RAAC survey in Old Windsor and Wraysbury, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
RAAC survey in Old Windsor and WraysburyRAAC assessment in Old Windsor and Wraysbury
RAAC structural assessment in Old Windsor and Wraysbury, 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.