Can RAAC be strengthened across a live university campus?

In most cases, yes. CFRP is applied in place, so work can be scheduled into vacations and reading weeks and phased building by building, keeping lecture theatres, labs and halls of residence in use rather than closing them.

Can you work around research and laboratory buildings?

Yes. The low-intervention, in-place method suits sensitive research and laboratory environments far better than demolition, and the works are planned around equipment, services and the constraints of the space with the estates team.

Is strengthening cheaper than replacing RAAC across a university estate?

Typically, yes, and by a wide margin. Strengthening in place avoids the cost and lost use of stripping out and rebuilding roofs across an estate. 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.

Can you survey RAAC across a whole estate?

Yes. Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard, leads survey, scanning and monitoring, so an estate can be assessed building by building and prioritised, then strengthened to John Staves chartered engineering design.

RAAC Strengthening for Universities

University estates are large, varied and rarely quiet. Structured Carbon strengthens RAAC in place with bespoke CFRP, scheduled around the academic year, so lecture theatres, laboratories and halls of residence stay in use instead of being closed or rebuilt.

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The RAAC challenge across university estates

Higher education estates are unusually diverse: lecture theatres and teaching blocks, research and laboratory buildings, libraries, sports facilities and halls of residence, often spanning decades of construction. Where RAAC is present, usually in roofs, the challenge is rarely a single building. It is an estate-wide question of surveying, prioritising and managing risk across many structures while teaching, research and residential life continue with little tolerance for closure.

Why universities need an alternative to replacement

Stripping out and replacing RAAC roofs across a campus is slow, expensive and disruptive to exactly the activities a university cannot pause: teaching timetables, live research, and student accommodation that has to be available term to term. Research and laboratory buildings in particular do not lend themselves to demolition, with sensitive equipment, services and clean environments to protect. An approach that restores structural safety while keeping buildings in use is far better suited to the way an estate actually runs.

How we strengthen RAAC in universities

We follow our five-stage RAACSafe™ Protocol. Neil Smuts surveys, scans and assesses the RAAC across the estate; John Staves designs a bespoke CFRP strengthening scheme to the exact capacity each building requires; the CFRP is manufactured in the UK and installed in place; and the strengthened structures are monitored. Because nothing is stripped out, work can be scheduled into vacations and phased building by building.

Teaching, research and residences kept in use, with no estate-wide decant.
Vacation and phased working across multiple buildings to manage disruption.
Suited to sensitive labs and research space, with low-intervention working.
A fraction of the cost and programme of replacing roofs across an estate.

Engineered by named RAAC specialists

Every university scheme is designed and signed off by John Staves (CEng FIStructE), one of the UK’s most highly regarded RAAC structural engineers, working from the survey and monitoring of Neil Smuts (MCIOB, MInstNDT), President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard. Meet the team.

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 RAAC be strengthened across a live university campus?: In most cases, yes. CFRP is applied in place, so work can be scheduled into vacations and reading weeks and phased building by building, keeping lecture theatres, labs and halls of residence in use rather than closing them.
Can you work around research and laboratory buildings?: Yes. The low-intervention, in-place method suits sensitive research and laboratory environments far better than demolition, and the works are planned around equipment, services and the constraints of the space with the estates team.
Is strengthening cheaper than replacing RAAC across a university estate?: Typically, yes, and by a wide margin. Strengthening in place avoids the cost and lost use of stripping out and rebuilding roofs across an estate. 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.
Can you survey RAAC across a whole estate?: Yes. Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard, leads survey, scanning and monitoring, so an estate can be assessed building by building and prioritised, then strengthened to John Staves chartered engineering design.

RAAC across your university estate?

Tell us about the estate and any survey already done, and we will advise on strengthening buildings in place to keep them in use.