on the subject of RAAC

[Lootman]

A structural engineer I know and have just been speaking to tells me that just because some buildings use RAAC does not automatically mean that they’re about to fall down or are even potentially dangerous. It seems that if they have been properly maintained they will be fine and it is no sort of scandal. Sadly, the authorities are running scared these days and so any whiff of a problem and they close down whole buildings.

There was an interesting documentary on the BBC the other night about the spectacular failure and collapse of the road bridge in Genoa, Italy a few years ago.

The fault was corrosion of the tensile steel cables rather than the concrete per se, but concrete had been used to supposedly protect the cables from corrosion and it did not. Again faulty inspections and institutional inertia were blamed.

Interestingly a contrast was made with similar faults in the Hammersmith flyover in London. In that case the road was closed and remedial repairs were performed.

[GeoffF100]

A structural engineer I know and have just been speaking to tells me that just because some buildings use RAAC does not automatically mean that they’re about to fall down or are even potentially dangerous. It seems that if they have been properly maintained they will be fine and it is no sort of scandal. Sadly, the authorities are running scared these days and so any whiff of a problem and they close down whole buildings.

I know another structural engineer who said much the same thing.

[chrissyr]

As usual Rishi, and I know he will agree with me here, should be thanked and praised for his action in solving the problem with rundown, under maintained and dangerous school building. I mean in July 2022 the Guardian were reporting that 9 out 10 school buildings had 'major defects'. And now he has reduced that issue to just 200 out of the 20000 plus building. Or as he says 'less than 5%'. He never was very good with number was our Rishi

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... yEq8GXr01e

[Dicky99]

As usual Rishi, and I know he will agree with me here, should be thanked and praised for his action in solving the problem with rundown, under maintained and dangerous school building. I mean in July 2022 the Guardian were reporting that 9 out 10 school buildings had 'major defects'. And now he has reduced that issue to just 200 out of the 20000 plus building. Or as he says 'less than 5%'. He never was very good with number was our Rishi

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... yEq8GXr01e

It's a ludicrous article which you're selectively and inaccurately quoting from but I'm sure you must have your reasons I suppose.

of 20,000 school buildings inspected between 2017 and 2019, a total of 19,442 had at least one building component that had “major defects” or was “not operating as intended”

You could without fear of contradiction apply that to any building you choose.