Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete or Raac is a lightweight alternative to standard concrete that was used mostly in flat roofing but also in floors and walls across buildings during the 1950s to 1990s.
But in the past few years, Raac has failed in a number of settings meaning schools have to urgently fix buildings where it is present, causing widespread disruption and a political blame game. In this Decomplicated, we look at what Raac is and how big the problem facing public buildings is.
Watch Decomplicated on Independent TV, across desktop, mobile and connected TV.
But in the past few years, Raac has failed in a number of settings meaning schools have to urgently fix buildings where it is present, causing widespread disruption and a political blame game. In this Decomplicated, we look at what Raac is and how big the problem facing public buildings is.
Watch Decomplicated on Independent TV, across desktop, mobile and connected TV.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 September sees schools opening across the UK,
00:04 but after an 11th hour warning of some buildings being unsafe,
00:08 thousands of pupils aren't returning to their schools.
00:12 What is RAC and how has it impacted schools across the UK?
00:17 This is Decomplicated.
00:20 What is RAC?
00:22 Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAC,
00:26 is a lightweight alternative to standard concrete
00:29 that was used mostly in flat roofing,
00:31 but also in floors and walls across buildings
00:34 during the 1950s to 1990s.
00:38 But the aerated aspect of RAC means it's more susceptible
00:42 to structural failure when exposed to moisture
00:45 and has a vastly reduced lifespan to standard concrete of around 30 years.
00:51 What's being done about RAC?
00:54 The government has known since 1994 that some public sector buildings
00:59 contain potentially compromised RAC
01:01 and has been monitoring their conditions since 2018.
01:06 New guidance was issued in 2021 and 2022 about how to manage RAC
01:11 and the Department of Education asked various responsible bodies
01:15 to provide information about the use of RAC in schools across the country.
01:20 What we discovered over the summer as new evidence emerged,
01:23 there was a number of cases where in schools, but also in non-schools
01:28 and indeed outside England, where RAC that we thought was safe,
01:34 that was not critical in its condition, actually turned out to be unsafe.
01:39 There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England
01:42 and the vast majority of them are unaffected by RAC.
01:45 Local authorities and multi-academy trusts are responsible for these buildings,
01:49 but we have been supporting schools and colleges
01:51 to ensure risks resulting from RAC are mitigated.
01:54 To date, 52 schools and colleges have these mitigations in place.
01:58 The majority have been able to continue to provide face-to-face learning
02:02 without any disruption and we remain in contact with them.
02:06 Although a large majority of educational facilities
02:09 utilise concrete between the 50s to the 90s,
02:13 the Department of Education initially identified 104 schools and colleges
02:18 that would need to close their affected buildings in some capacity,
02:22 just as students are set to return after the summer holidays.
02:26 Well, 52 schools and colleges have already taken protective measures
02:34 and will not need to shut.
02:36 Schools that have little RAC present will have less substantial closures,
02:41 with some requiring as little as a single classroom
02:44 to be closed for refurbishing.
02:47 The use of RAC was not only confined to school buildings, however,
02:52 meaning that the crisis could further deepen
02:55 as other public buildings and hospitals are checked
02:58 for how much RAC was used in their construction.
03:01 The scale of the problem is much bigger than schools.
03:04 It also covers much of the building stock in the country,
03:08 not all, but a proportion of it.
03:10 This includes education, but also health,
03:14 but also defence, justice, local government, national government
03:18 and also a lot of the private sector.
03:20 [Music plays]