RAAC Survey in Winnersh
A RAAC survey in Winnersh answers the question every estates manager, bursar and building owner has been asked since 2023: is there RAAC in this building, and if there is, what state is it in? Structured Carbon carries out RAAC surveys across Berkshire from our base in Finchampstead, a few miles from Winnersh, 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. Winnersh is local to us.
Inside a Structured Carbon RAAC survey
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.
Who asks us for RAAC surveys in Winnersh
The buildings most likely to contain RAAC are the ones Winnersh has plenty of: post-war schools and colleges, health centres and clinics, sports halls and swimming pools, community centres, libraries, courts, offices and light industrial units, all built between the 1950s and the mid 1990s with flat or shallow roofs. If a building like that has never been surveyed for RAAC, it should be. If it was surveyed on a visual basis only, the findings are worth confirming with scanning, because RAAC and dense concrete are hard to tell apart from below.
School, academy, NHS and council RAAC surveys in Winnersh
Most RAAC surveys we are asked for in Winnersh come from four places: schools and academy trusts working to Department for Education guidance, NHS and primary care estates teams, council property departments, and the owners of halls, churches, sports centres and offices with flat roofs from the 1950s to the mid 1990s. Each gets the same two-part offer. A visual survey, from £395, identifies and records the RAAC. An engineering inspection and structural assessment, priced per building, classifies every panel and tells you what to do, signed by a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers.
For a school or academy trust that needs a RAAC surveyor who can also provide a management and remediation strategy after the inspection, that is what the two-part offer is for.
Why Winnersh has buildings of the RAAC era
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 survey question of any flat-roofed building here that predates the mid 1990s, because that is where RAAC planks were used.
Where to begin if you manage property in Winnersh
The question is not "does Winnersh have RAAC" but "which of my buildings might". The answer sits in the construction dates. Buildings of the RAAC era in and around Winnersh, Wokingham and Earley typically include post-war housing with the schools and community buildings that came with it. Pull the dates for each, note which have flat roofs, and treat every one that fits as unconfirmed until a RAAC survey says otherwise. We are happy to look at the list with you before anything is booked.
From survey to decision
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.
Equipment, experience and insurance
Scanning is only as good as the instruments and the person reading them. We 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. Professional indemnity insurance is held to a maximum of £10 million, with public and employers' liability arranged on a per-site basis.
For Winnersh, we can usually be on site in Berkshire within one to two days, and the report follows within five working days of the site visit, depending on the size of the survey and the level of detail required. Evening, weekend and holiday visits are no problem.
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
Is a RAAC survey the same as a RAAC assessment?
No. The survey establishes what is there and what condition it is in. The assessment is the engineering judgement about what that means and what to do. We offer both, and you can read about RAAC assessment in Winnersh separately.
How do I know if my building might have RAAC?
Flat or low-pitched roofs, sometimes floors and walls, in buildings built or extended between the 1950s and the mid 1990s. Schools, hospitals, clinics, halls, leisure centres, courts, offices and industrial units of that period are all candidates. If you are unsure, send us the age and type of the building and we will tell you whether a survey is worth doing.
Where 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 work across the UK.
How much does a RAAC survey cost?
There is no blanket price, because buildings differ. As a guide, a visual RAAC survey starts from £395. A full engineering inspection of a large or complex building, a hospital for example, is priced per building once we know its size, access and the level of detail required. Tell us the building and we will give you a figure for it.
Do you survey schools and academies in Winnersh?
Yes, and that is most of our work. School and academy RAAC surveys in Winnersh 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 Winnersh 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 Winnersh?
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.
Also in Winnersh
RAAC assessment in Winnersh
RAAC structural assessment in Winnersh, Berkshire, by John Staves CEng FIStructE MIoD, working from Neil Smuts' survey.
RAAC assessment in WinnershRAAC scanning in Winnersh
RAAC scanning in Winnersh, Berkshire: non-destructive identification of RAAC planks and their reinforcement by Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.
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Related: RAAC strengthening, RAAC remediation in Berkshire, RAAC confirmed buildings register, RAAC in schools.