RAAC Scanning in Sandhurst

How scanning identifies RAAC

RAAC scanning is non-destructive testing applied to a specific problem: confirming whether a roof, floor or wall panel in Sandhurst 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.

Is it RAAC or ordinary concrete? Identification in Sandhurst

The most common question from schools, academies, NHS estates and councils in Sandhurst 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.

A practical starting point in Sandhurst

If you are responsible for buildings in Sandhurst, 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 Bracknell Forest Council area that will usually take in post-war schools, the leisure centre and community buildings that grew with the housing. Anything on that list that has never had RAAC ruled in or out is a candidate for a RAAC scanning. 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.

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 Sandhurst, 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.