For a RAAC survey in Whitehaven, NDTScan brings something no general scanning contractor can: hands-on experience of identifying and analysing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete across the UK, in schools, hospitals, housing, public buildings and commercial estates. Cumbria has its share of the roofs and floors built with these planks between the late 1950s and the mid 1990s, and most have never been properly surveyed.
Whitehaven 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 Cumbria 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.
The method NDTScan uses in Whitehaven is the one it uses everywhere: identify first, then assess. Ground penetrating radar reads the plank's internal structure without cutting into it, distinguishing RAAC from the dense precast, hollowcore and timber it is often mistaken for. Every confirmed plank is then inspected for the defects that matter, cracking, deflection, short bearing, water damage, corrosion and earlier repairs, and classified in line with IStructE guidance. The Whitehaven owner receives a plank-level record, not a general opinion.
NDTScan's advice to Whitehaven 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 Whitehaven client, and the reason NDTScan reports what the concrete contains before anyone specifies what to do about it.
Services Available in Whitehaven
- RAAC Identification Survey GPR based, plank by plank identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in roofs, floors and walls across Whitehaven. 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 Cumbria 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 Whitehaven owner needs an independent second opinion on a survey or a remediation proposal.
RAAC in and around Whitehaven
Around Whitehaven 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 Cumbria 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 Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Workington, Penrith and Ulverston and the rest of Cumbria. 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 Whitehaven 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.