RAAC Scanning in Winnersh
Structured Carbon provides non-destructive RAAC scanning in Winnersh and throughout Berkshire. The work 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 person who leads the national standard for concrete scanning. The scan confirms RAAC, maps the reinforcement, and gives John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, the evidence his assessment needs.
- 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. Winnersh is local to us.
What RAAC scanning in Winnersh tells you
Scanning reads the inside of a panel from its surface. Non-destructive methods distinguish the light, cellular structure of RAAC from dense concrete, and locate the steel reinforcement within a plank: where the bars run, how deep they are, and whether they extend to the bearings. That last point matters more than any other with RAAC, because a plank whose reinforcement stops short of its support is the classic failure case, and no amount of looking from below will show it.
The scan is recorded panel by panel against a location plan, alongside a visual and condition record, so that the results can be assessed rather than just filed.
Who scans your building
Concrete scanning has a standard in the UK, and the man who leads it leads our scanning. Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT, FRCSP), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard and a Fellow of the Register of Concrete Scanning Professionals, reads every scan we carry out in Winnersh. That is the difference between a printout and an answer: knowing what RAAC looks like on a scan, what a short bearing looks like, and what a previous repair or a void looks like when it is pretending to be one of them. The answer then goes to John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, whose assessment and, if needed, strengthening design are built on it.
Is it RAAC or ordinary concrete? Identification in Winnersh
The most common question from schools, academies, NHS estates and councils in Winnersh 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.
RAAC in Winnersh
We know Winnersh well: it is Winnersh Triangle business park and the station on the Reading to Waterloo line, with post-war housing with the schools and community buildings that came with it, and around 8,900 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 scanning question of any flat-roofed building here that predates the mid 1990s, because that is where RAAC planks were used.
RAAC scanning: how to get started in Winnersh
Three pieces of information get a RAAC scanning in Winnersh 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 Winnersh, Wokingham and Earley, we plan the visits as one programme so that nothing is missed and nothing is surveyed twice.
Scanning as part of a RAAC survey
Two routes are common in Winnersh. 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 Winnersh 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
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.
Do you scan the whole roof?
We scan every accessible panel that could be RAAC, recorded to a location plan. For a large estate in Winnersh we agree the scope with you first, but the principle is that unscanned panels are unknown panels.
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 Winnersh 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 Winnersh.
What areas do you cover?
We are based in Finchampstead, Wokingham, so Winnersh 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.
Also in Winnersh
RAAC survey in Winnersh
RAAC survey in Winnersh, Berkshire, by Neil Smuts MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
RAAC survey in WinnershRAAC assessment in Winnersh
RAAC structural assessment in Winnersh, 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.