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One of the UK’s largest private owners will be ordered to check its old buildings for dangerous concrete, forcing the closure of hundreds of school buildings this week.
Landsec chief executive Mark Allan said the company had been exposed to buildings built in the 50 years after World War Two with plans for redevelopment and would “certainly” consider surveying them to check for autoclaved steel Aerated Concrete. , or lark.
“Any responsible building owner has a duty to do some work to understand where we might be affected,” he told the FT, adding that he expected the investigation to target a small number of buildings, including those in the Landsec portfolio. The mall was built in the 1970s.
Until then, professional body the Institution of Structural Engineers has urged owners of older commercial properties to “conduct surveys of the buildings to identify or eliminate the possibility” of Raac, a lightweight concrete that is prone to collapse.
Noble Francis, economic director of trade body Building Products Association, said Raac was most widely used in the public sector from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s, but was also used in commercial office buildings, shops, factories and warehouses.
However, he added, there was no data on its prevalence in the private sector. “This means that it is not possible at this stage to estimate the total cost of repairing the building, nor how many years it will take to fully resolve the problem,” he said.
Matt Neave, partner at real estate consultant Gerald Eve, said the lack of information and regulation governing its use in the private sector meant property owners failed to fully understand the risks associated with Raac-related failures.
“Most owners and occupiers of commercial buildings are completely unaware of this and may not have assessed whether it exists or (how to manage) this risk,” he said.
Mark Reynolds, chairman of the Construction Leadership Council, an advisory body made up of government and industry experts, said no private sector buildings at risk had been identified.
But that could change “once companies and individuals start investigating or become aware of the risks,” he added.
Professor John Kelsey, an expert in construction economics at University College London, said the issues surrounding corrosion and failure risks of Raacs had been known for decades, and maintenance was key to ensuring they did not collapse.
He added that the material has been widely used in countries such as Germany and Japan and “has performed satisfactorily through good design, construction and maintenance”.
Francis said better maintenance of commercial real estate meant there could be fewer lark problems in the private sector.
Commercial and industrial developers are more likely to address these issues during ongoing repairs and maintenance or upgrading buildings to attract new tenants, he added.
In the public sector, buildings are often used beyond their expected lifespan in an attempt to defer substantial capital expenditures.
Trade bodies said they did not know the extent of the risk to the private sector.
Verity Davidge, policy director at Make UK, which represents manufacturers, said: “So far this has not come to our attention, but we will continue to monitor it closely.”
The British Retail Consortium said it was “inaccurate” to suggest systemic problems in the industry.
The British Property Federation, which represents the property industry, declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Euan Healy
Svlook
