RAAC Survey in Ascot

How we survey RAAC in Ascot

We start with the building's history: when it was built, when it was extended, and any drawings or previous reports you hold. On site we inspect every accessible roof, floor and wall panel that could be RAAC, record its condition, and use non-destructive scanning to confirm whether a panel is RAAC and where its reinforcement sits. Bearings are checked, because RAAC planks fail at the ends before they fail in the middle. We record cracking, deflection, water staining and any evidence of previous repair, panel by panel, with a location plan so nothing is lost between survey and assessment.

What you get back is a report written for a structural engineer to act on, not a photo album. Because that engineer is John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC, the survey is designed around what he needs to classify each panel and decide what should happen next.

A RAAC surveyor in Ascot who can also tell you what to do next

A RAAC survey answers "is it there and what state is it in". The question that follows, from every school, academy trust, hospital estate and council in Ascot, is "so what do we do". Because our surveyor and our chartered structural engineer work as one team, the survey feeds an inspection and assessment that ends in a management and remediation strategy, not a list of findings. A visual survey starts from £395; an engineering inspection of a large or complex building is priced per building.

We survey schools and academies, NHS and GP premises, council and civic buildings, churches and village halls, leisure centres, offices and industrial units, anything with a flat roof of the RAAC era.

A practical starting point in Ascot

If you are responsible for buildings in Ascot, 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 the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead area that will usually take in schools and community buildings of the post-war period among the large houses. Anything on that list that has never had RAAC ruled in or out is a candidate for a RAAC survey. 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.

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 Ascot is on our doorstep.