Council confirms RAAC concrete has been removed from Perth school roof

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Potentially dangerous concrete panels found in the roof of Perth Grammar School have now been removed with remaining consequential works in place until the end of October.

Last month the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) had discovered Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in one of its schools.It has now emerged RAAC was found in the Perth school in February 2023 and PKC has been aware of concerns about RAAC since May 2019 but "there was no specific government advice at this time".

A 2019 report by the Standing Committee on Structural Safety highlighted the risk with RAAC following the sudden collapse of a roof in a Kent school.

The collapse - which happened over a weekend in 2018 - came with "little warning". The UK independent body's safety alert stated: "Pre-1980 RAAC planks are now past their expected service life and it is recommended that consideration is given to their replacement."Following the alert PKC carried out non-invasive visual inspections but did not find any RAAC at that point.Over the past week concern about RAAC in public buildings has grown after it was announced over 100 schools in England and Wales would not reopen to pupils until they were made safe.A briefing note to Perth and Kinross councillors - published on the council's website this week - said PKC has received "a number of queries from media and stakeholders" following the "recent media coverage of schools in England".RAAC is a lightweight, bubbly form of concrete with steel enforcement.