RAAC surveys in Alderley Edge are carried out by NDTScan, the UK's specialist in the identification and analysis of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The planks were installed in Cheshire buildings for nearly forty years, mainly in flat and shallow-pitched roofs, and they are now well beyond the design life their manufacturers assumed. Identifying them is the first step; understanding their condition is the one that matters.
The Department for Education's list of education settings with confirmed RAAC, published in February 2024, includes 2 settings in Cheshire East, among them The Macclesfield Academy and Sandbach School. The Department of Health and Social Care's list of hospital sites with confirmed RAAC includes Countess of Chester Hospital, Leighton Hospital and Warrington General Hospital in Cheshire. Those are the buildings that made the published lists, which cover schools, colleges and NHS sites. They are named here as evidence that the construction is present in Cheshire, not as NDTScan projects. Around Alderley Edge the same roof and floor planks are in council buildings, housing, leisure centres, retail units and industrial sheds that nobody has counted.
A RAAC survey from NDTScan starts with identification. Ground penetrating radar separates aerated planks from dense concrete, hollowcore and timber decks plank by plank, and the reinforcement pattern, transverse bars and plank widths confirm the reading without opening the roof. Condition comes next: cracking, deflection, end bearing, water staining, corrosion and previous repairs are recorded for each plank, and the findings are classified in line with IStructE guidance so the Alderley Edge owner can see at once which elements need action, which need monitoring and which are sound.
One rule applies to every RAAC survey in Alderley Edge. No remediation, propping, strengthening or replacement should be designed until each plank has been identified and its condition recorded. Some of the most expensive RAAC decisions in the UK were taken on roofs that had never been properly surveyed. The survey is the cheapest part of getting the decision right, and NDTScan will say so to every Alderley Edge client.
Scan before you repair. That is the standing advice for every Alderley Edge client, and the reason NDTScan reports what the concrete contains before anyone specifies what to do about it.
Services Available in Alderley Edge
- RAAC Identification Survey GPR based, plank by plank identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in roofs, floors and walls across Alderley Edge. Confirms what the element is made of without opening it up, and records plank widths, reinforcement and bearing details as evidence.
- RAAC Condition Assessment Plank level inspection of confirmed RAAC for cracking, deflection, bearing length, water ingress, corrosion and previous repairs, classified in line with IStructE guidance. Reported so a Cheshire engineer or estates team can act on it directly.
- RAAC Management and Reinspection Monitoring regimes, reinspection intervals and management plans for RAAC that is being kept in service, plus expert input where a Alderley Edge owner needs an independent second opinion on a survey or a remediation proposal.
RAAC in and around Alderley Edge
Around Alderley Edge the work divides into four kinds. Owners who do not know what their roof is made of and need it identified. Owners who know it is RAAC and need every plank assessed and classified in line with IStructE guidance. Estates teams who need a management plan and a reinspection regime for planks staying in service. And Cheshire clients who have a survey or a remediation proposal in front of them and want NDTScan's independent view before committing money. Public bodies, housing providers, insurers and private owners all instruct on the same basis.
NDTScan also provides RAAC surveys in Warrington, Chester, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn and Widnes and the rest of Cheshire. The rest of the region is covered from the North West RAAC surveys page, and the service itself is described on the RAAC surveys page.
About NDTScan
NDTScan is a specialist non-destructive testing company based in Oxford and led by Neil Smuts, author of The RAAC Book. It is the UK's specialist in the identification and analysis of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and a Level 4 UKCSS Operator, the first in the UK to achieve that certification. RAAC surveys in Alderley Edge sit alongside the company's concrete scanning and structural condition survey work, and every report is written to a standard suitable for engineering acceptance, insurers and dispute work.