RAAC surveys in Randalstown are carried out by NDTScan, the UK's specialist in the identification and analysis of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The planks were installed in Antrim and Newtownabbey 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.
Randalstown does not feature on the government lists of confirmed RAAC, which only ever counted schools, colleges and hospital sites. The construction itself was used across Antrim and Newtownabbey for three decades in council buildings, housing, community halls, offices and light industrial units. Where a flat or shallow roof dates from 1955 to 1995 and its make-up is unknown, NDTScan's advice is to identify it before the next winter rather than after it.
NDTScan surveys RAAC in Randalstown in two stages that are usually completed on the same visit. First, identification: GPR and the plank's own signature, its width, its transverse reinforcement and its bearing detail, establish plank by plank whether the element is RAAC at all. Second, condition: each confirmed plank is inspected for cracking, deflection, bearing length, water ingress, corrosion and past repair, and the results are classified in line with IStructE guidance. The report says what was found, what was not found and how confident each reading is.
NDTScan's advice to Randalstown 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 Randalstown client, and the reason NDTScan reports what the concrete contains before anyone specifies what to do about it.
Services Available in Randalstown
- RAAC Identification Survey GPR based, plank by plank identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in roofs, floors and walls across Randalstown. 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 Antrim and Newtownabbey 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 Randalstown owner needs an independent second opinion on a survey or a remediation proposal.
RAAC in and around Randalstown
Around Randalstown 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 Antrim and Newtownabbey 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 Metropolitan Newtownabbey, Antrim, Ballyclare and Crumlin and the rest of Antrim and Newtownabbey. 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 Randalstown 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.