RAAC Survey in Burghfield Common
RAAC surveys in Burghfield Common are carried out by Structured Carbon from our Finchampstead base, one of the few places in the country where the surveyor and the structural engineer who will assess the findings work as a single team. The survey side 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.
- Led by Neil Smuts, MCIOB MInstNDT FRCSP, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard
- Findings assessed by John Staves, CEng FIStructE MIoD, a chartered engineer who specialises in RAAC
- School RAAC surveyor and academy RAAC surveyor: most of our work, arranged around the timetable
- Non-destructive: RAAC and its reinforcement confirmed without opening up the roof. Visual surveys from £395
- Usually on site in Berkshire within one to two days; report within five working days of the visit
Based in Finchampstead, Wokingham. Burghfield Common is local to us.
How we survey RAAC in Burghfield Common
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.
When a building in Burghfield Common needs a RAAC survey
Any building with a flat or low-pitched roof built or extended between the 1950s and the mid 1990s should have RAAC ruled in or out. In practice the requests we get from Burghfield Common and the rest of Berkshire come from school business managers and academy trusts working through Department for Education guidance, NHS and primary care estates teams, council property teams, leisure operators, churches and charities with halls, and commercial landlords whose insurers or buyers have asked the question.
The other common trigger is a sale, a lease renewal or a refurbishment where the design team needs to know what the roof is made of before they touch it.
RAAC surveyor for schools, academies and public buildings in Burghfield Common
School and academy RAAC surveys are most of our work. Headteachers, school business managers and multi-academy trusts in Burghfield Common need a RAAC survey that is quick to arrange, quiet to carry out and written so that the trust, the Department for Education and the insurer can act on it. The same applies to NHS estates, GP surgeries, council property teams, churches and village halls, leisure centres and commercial landlords: anyone with a flat-roofed building of the RAAC era.
Which school RAAC surveyors can also provide a management and remediation strategy following inspection? We can, because the surveyor and the chartered engineer who assesses the findings are one team, and the strengthening that follows is designed by the same engineer. A visual survey starts from £395; a full engineering inspection is priced per building.
The building stock in Burghfield Common
Burghfield Common sits in the West Berkshire Council area, close to Mortimer, Theale and Reading. It is beside the AWE Burghfield site, one of the most tightly controlled construction environments in the country, and it holds post-war housing with its schools and community buildings. That is the building stock the RAAC survey question applies to: anything with a flat or shallow roof from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, whether school, clinic, hall, leisure centre or office.
Prioritising buildings in Burghfield Common
Not every building in Burghfield Common needs a RAAC survey, and we would rather tell you that than sell you one. The ones that do are flat-roofed, date from the 1950s to the mid 1990s, and have never had RAAC confirmed or excluded by scanning. Under West Berkshire Council that generally means post-war housing with its schools and community buildings. Ranked by occupancy and by the consequence of a failure, that list usually puts schools, health buildings and places of assembly first, then offices and industrial units.
After the RAAC survey: assessment, then a plan
A survey on its own does not tell you what to do. That is the job of the RAAC assessment, carried out by John Staves (CEng FIStructE, MIoD), a chartered structural engineer and one of the UK's leading specialists in RAAC from our survey findings. The assessment sets out which panels are safe to keep in use, which need propping or monitoring, and whether strengthening in place is a realistic alternative to replacing the roof. 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.
Because survey, assessment, design, manufacture, installation and monitoring all sit inside one partnership, nothing is lost between stages and nobody is selling you a replacement roof you may not need.
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 Burghfield Common 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 survey FAQs
Do you survey schools and academies in Burghfield Common?
Yes, and that is most of our work. School and academy RAAC surveys in Burghfield Common are arranged around the timetable or in holidays, written so the trust, the Department for Education and the insurer can act on them, and followed, where you want it, by an engineering inspection and a management and remediation strategy from the same team. Neil is DBS checked.
How long does a RAAC survey take?
It depends on the size of the building and how much of the roof is accessible. A single-storey school or hall in Burghfield Common is typically a day on site; larger or multi-building estates take longer. The report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required.
How quickly can you get to Burghfield Common?
We are based in Finchampstead, Wokingham, so we can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days. Evening, weekend and holiday visits are no problem.
Do you need to open up the roof?
No. We confirm RAAC and locate its reinforcement using non-destructive scanning from the underside or the roof surface. Where a small opening is already present we will use it, but the survey does not depend on cutting into the building.
What 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.
Are you insured?
Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis.
Can the building stay open during the survey?
Yes. The survey is quiet, non-destructive work carried out room by room. Schools in Burghfield Common usually ask us to work around the timetable or in holidays; health and office buildings carry on around us. Neil is DBS checked.
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RAAC structural assessment in Burghfield Common, Berkshire, by John Staves CEng FIStructE MIoD, working from Neil Smuts' survey.
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RAAC scanning in Burghfield Common, Berkshire: non-destructive identification of RAAC planks and their reinforcement by Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
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