RAAC surveys in Cookstown are carried out by NDTScan, the UK's specialist in the identification and analysis of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The planks were installed in Mid Ulster 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.
No Cookstown building appears on the national lists NDTScan tracks, which cover education settings in England and NHS hospital sites. That says nothing about the stock. RAAC went into flat and shallow-pitched roofs across Mid Ulster through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, in schools, halls, clinics, leisure centres, offices, housing and industrial units, and most of it has never been surveyed.
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 Cookstown owner can see at once which elements need action, which need monitoring and which are sound.
NDTScan's advice to Cookstown owners is consistent: survey before you decide. A RAAC roof that has been identified and assessed plank by plank can be managed, propped, strengthened or replaced on evidence. One that has only been glanced at will be closed, propped or replaced on fear, and that is where budgets go. The survey is the smallest cost in the chain.
Scan before you repair. That is the standing advice for every Cookstown client, and the reason NDTScan reports what the concrete contains before anyone specifies what to do about it.
Services Available in Cookstown
- RAAC Identification Survey GPR based, plank by plank identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in roofs, floors and walls across Cookstown. 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 Mid Ulster 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 Cookstown owner needs an independent second opinion on a survey or a remediation proposal.
RAAC in and around Cookstown
Typical Cookstown instructions: RAAC identification in schools, halls, clinics and council buildings built between 1955 and 1995; plank by plank condition assessment of confirmed RAAC roofs and floors; risk classification in line with IStructE guidance to support decisions on closure, propping or continued use; reinspection and monitoring of managed RAAC; and independent review of surveys and remediation proposals for Mid Ulster owners and their insurers. NDTScan covers Cookstown from Oxford in the same way it covers the rest of Northern Ireland.
NDTScan also provides RAAC surveys in Elsewhere In Ni, Dungannon, Magherafelt, Coalisland and Maghera and the rest of Mid Ulster. The rest of the region is covered from the Northern Ireland 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 Cookstown 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.