REPAIR AND REMEDIATION
Implementing RAAC remediation in focus
The potential issues with RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) – a lightweight precast concrete frequently used in UK public sector buildings from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s, are well documented. All NHS hospital sites in England with confirmed RAAC are now in NHS England’s ongoing national RAAC programme – allocated £954 m since the 2021-2022 financial year to enable the affected Trusts to implement remediation and failsafe measures. The challenges of remediation in a live hospital, with a particular focus on Airedale General Hospital near Keighley, were discussed in a four-way presentation at October’s Healthcare Estates conference. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.
Left to right: Richard Burgin, Andy Buckley, Oliver Organ, and Chris Waine, with session chair John Allwork, far right.
Speaking in a Day One Estates and Facilities conference stream session titled ‘RAAC surveying, management and compliance’ were four personnel with considerable recent experience dealing with RAAC in healthcare settings. They were introduced by the session’s chair, IHEEM’s John Allwork, a strong supporter of IHEEM for many years, and a Chartered Engineer with over 38 years’ healthcare estates experience, now retired. The first to be introduced was Richard Burgin, RAAC Estates lead for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, who is responsible for securing the future programme of works at Airedale General Hospital, and leads a team of project managers and surveyors remediating RAAC issues for the Trust. Richard Burgin is known as an ‘industry leader’ in RAAC, and is heavily involved in research and best practice published guidance notes. Co-presenting with him were Andy Buckley – Design director with Curtins; Oliver Organ – an Associate with Curtins who is considered a leading engineer in RAAC, and the current Project leader at Airedale General Hospital for delivering Curtins’ structural work, and Chris Waine, Project director at Hive Projects at the West Yorkshire hospital, who provides the Trust with ‘guidance to make informed decisions on capital and operational expenditure’.
Curtins’ Andy Buckley explained to delegates early in his presentation ‘why RAAC is a problem’.
Learning a lot on the journey Curtins’ Andy Buckley began the presentation by setting the backdrop. He explained: “The process and assessment of RAAC and design considerations is something we’ve
been involved with for at least the last 3-4 years across many estates and projects – none more so than at Airedale, and we’ve learned a lot on our journey. We will be talking through how that process of investigation and surveying has progressed, and what we’ve learned through institutions, working with suppliers and research bodies. We’ll also touch on the legal requirements of owners and occupiers, and generally about our lived experience at Airedale, applying it to practical and real- life applications.”
Explaining to delegates ‘why RAAC is a problem’, he
said: “RAAC is still with us, and as a material it’s weak, low strength, and bends, and has only about a quarter of the density, and about one-tenth the strength, of traditional concrete. Unlike conventional reinforced in situ concrete, the reinforcement and the concrete don’t really act together compositely, so you don’t gain the strengths and benefits of that system. It doesn’t deal well with water, and indeed Richard and Oliver will touch upon the problems with cyclical environments throughout the seasons, and on water ingress, later.” Andy Buckley said RAAC had been ‘thrust into the news’ last year, largely through the schools sector, but ‘had been around’ for over 10 years, and, since 2019 particularly, the associated construction and estates community had really started to learn about it as a material and process. He said: “The latest known failure we are aware of occurred as recently as August 2024. It’s still a risk, and should be at the forefront of any estate’s mind.”
The Curtins approach Here he passed over to his Curtins colleague, Oliver Organ, to talk through the company’s approach to investigating, assessing, and developing solutions for RAAC, and how the engineering consultancy establishes whether buildings contain it, using a combination of desktop surveys and visual inspections. He said: “We’ll explain how we undertake those inspections, what we’re looking for, and the key things we look to highlight, before
48 Health Estate Journal February 2025
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