RAAC

The garage flat roof is a panel the surveyor says may be RAAC and it was not sampled. What investigation has been deferred?

The investigation that has been deferred is an investigation of the garage flat-roof panel. The surveyor says it may be RAAC, a form of concrete panel that IStructE says needs investigation, and it was not sampled. The survey has not investigated the plank and has not sampled it. It has not confirmed the material and has not cleared it. May be is the limit of the identification. The investigation that would settle it has been left to a later, competent look.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

RAAC, in the terms that matter here, is a form of concrete panel that IStructE says needs investigation. The surveyor has pointed at a garage flat roof and stopped at that possibility. Sampling and investigation are what did not happen. A solid look from below is not a sample, and a home survey does not become a materials test by using the name. The panel stays unverified. Until someone competent investigates it, the report's sentence remains a deferral, not a diagnosis and not a clearance.

Arrange an investigation of the garage panel by someone competent to assess it, and do not treat this survey as that investigation. Tell the solicitor the plank was not sampled and the surveyor says it may be RAAC. Do not describe the roof as confirmed or as cleared. Keep any later report separate from the sentence that deferred the investigation.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which garage panel may be RAAC, and was it sampled?
What investigation has been deferred?
Have you confirmed the material, or only raised the possibility?

What are the typical next steps?

Arrange an investigation of the garage panel by someone competent to assess it.
Tell the solicitor the plank was not sampled.
Do not describe the roof as confirmed RAAC or as cleared.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

If the garage panel looks solid, has it been sampled?

No. A panel that looks solid has still not been sampled. The survey has not investigated it. RAAC here means a form of concrete panel that IStructE says needs investigation, and that investigation has been deferred. Appearance from the garage is not the sample the visit did not take.

Did the survey investigate the plank, or only say it may be RAAC?

The surveyor said the panel may be RAAC and did not investigate or sample the plank. That is the whole of the finding. They did not confirm the material, and they did not clear it. The investigation has been deferred. A possibility is not the investigation itself.