RAAC Strengthening for Schools

RAAC in a school roof does not have to mean closure, portacabins and a replacement project that runs for years. Structured Carbon strengthens RAAC in place with bespoke CFRP, so classrooms stay open, pupils stay put, and the cost is a fraction of full replacement.

The RAAC challenge in schools

RAAC moved to the top of the agenda for school estates when, ahead of the autumn 2023 term, settings with confirmed RAAC were told to take affected areas out of use. For many that meant closed classrooms and halls, temporary accommodation, pupils taught off site or relocated, and significant disruption to education. The default response, in line with the guidance to make safe and then plan replacement, points schools and trusts towards propping and, ultimately, stripping out and rebuilding roofs, an expensive, slow and highly disruptive route.

Why schools need an alternative to replacement

Replacement is the most disruptive option a school can choose. Decanting pupils into temporary classrooms, busing them to other sites, or losing halls, science blocks and sports facilities for months carries an educational and financial cost on top of the construction bill. For academies, multi-academy trusts and local-authority schools alike, anything that keeps the building safely in use is worth serious consideration. That is exactly what in-place strengthening offers.

How we strengthen RAAC in schools

We follow our five-stage RAACSafe™ Protocol. Neil Smuts surveys, scans and assesses the RAAC; John Staves designs a bespoke CFRP strengthening scheme to the exact capacity required; the CFRP is manufactured in the UK to that design and installed in place; and the strengthened structure is monitored. Because nothing is stripped out, the work suits short, intensive school-holiday programmes, and can be phased so the school stays open in term time.

• Classrooms kept in use, with no decant to temporary accommodation.
• Holiday and out-of-hours working to keep disruption to teaching minimal.
• A fraction of the cost and programme of replacing the roof.
• Decades of added safe service life from a permanent, moisture-immune solution.

See the numbers on our case study, where, across the tenders we cost, strengthening tailored to the exact roof comes in well below 15 per cent of replacement cost, and read more about CFRP strengthening and RAAC remediation.

Frequently asked questions

Can a school stay open during RAAC strengthening?

In most cases, yes. Because CFRP is applied in place, without stripping out the roof, work can be staged around the timetable and concentrated in holidays, so classrooms are kept in use and pupils are not relocated to temporary accommodation.

Is CFRP strengthening of RAAC suitable for schools?

Where a structural assessment confirms it, yes. Every scheme is assessed, designed and signed off by our chartered structural engineer, John Staves (CEng FIStructE), a recognised RAAC specialist, working from the survey and monitoring carried out by Neil Smuts.

How does it compare with the cost of RAAC replacement in schools?

Strengthening in place is typically a fraction of the cost of stripping out and rebuilding a roof, and a fraction of the programme. Across the tenders we cost, a bespoke scheme tailored to that exact roof frequently comes in well below 15 per cent of the cost of replacement; on one tender a roof costed at around £40 million to replace was priced for strengthening at under £4 million, with no decant.

Can RAAC work be carried out in school holidays?

Yes. The in-place method lends itself to short, intensive holiday programmes, and where needed work can be phased across several holidays so the school remains operational in term time.