Author
Sahir Raihan
Structural Engineer and Managing Director · Solar Surveys Ltd
Leads the engineering team at Solar Surveys Ltd, a structural engineering practice specialising in solar PV, with commercial rooftops at its core and residential work at portfolio and scheme scale. Author of the PV Structural Feasibility Dataset 2026 and of the Structural Feasibility Assessment Specification, and the named contact on the survey and reporting work behind both.
What he is responsible for
Solar Surveys assesses existing roofs proposed to carry solar PV, and issues the structural report that a client, a funder or an insurer relies on. Sahir leads the engineering team that does that work, and sets the standard the practice holds itself to.
That standard is stricter than the regulation requires, deliberately. MIS 3002 V6.0 mandates a qualified structural engineer in named cases: unusual roofs under 5.9.6, every flat roof ballasted system under 5.9.13(h) without exception, and non-standard mounting under 5.5.5(b). Outside those cases the universal 5.9.4 check may be made by a suitably competent person. Solar Surveys applies the engineer standard to all commercial work, and is clear about which part of that is the regulation and which part is ours. That position is set out in full in the Assessment Specification.
Published work
UK Roof Plane Dataset 2026
1,568 roof planes on 651 UK buildings and homes assessed for rooftop solar between January and September 2026, with the findings and method set out in full. Free to read and cite: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22850513.
Structural Feasibility Assessment Specification, Issue 1
An open specification for what a structural feasibility assessment must contain. Free to adopt and quote into a scope of works. Certifies nobody.
PV Structural Feasibility Dataset 2026
Aggregate findings from 575 UK commercial rooftop assessments carried out between 2024 and 2026. Published openly, with the method stated and no registration.
Technical articles
Standards, roof substrates, loading and compliance for commercial rooftop PV.
Independent coverage
Quoted or bylined in the insurance, construction and energy trade press. Each of these is the publisher's own page, and none of it is reproduced here.
Contributed article, “Rooftop solar: what actually fills a roof’s structural headroom”, 5 October 2026, drawing on the UK Roof Plane Dataset 2026.
Bylined author of “What MIS 3002 actually requires, and who it lets sign it off”, 24 September 2026.
Bylined author of “The FM’s pre-solar checklist: what to establish before you sign the PPA”, 2 September 2026.
Quoted throughout “A third of commercial rooftops unfit for solar without remedial work”, 4 August 2026, which draws on the 575-survey dataset.
Bylined author of “Mind the gap: the structural blind spot in the new rooftop solar mandate”, 15 July 2026.
Contributed analysis, “Who is allowed to sign off your roof? The gap in the new solar mandate”, 12 June 2026.
All six are also listed in the newsroom.
Verify independently
Nothing on this page asks to be taken on trust. The records below are public and none of them is controlled by us.
- Companies House · appointmentsfind-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk →
- LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/sahir-raihan-1315a7114 →
- PBC Today · contributor pagepbctoday.co.uk →
- The companySolar Surveys Ltd, registered in Scotland, company no. SC827786. Corporate member of ACE and the Environmental Industries Commission, member no. AM2026009, and a member of Solar Energy UK.
Press enquiries and technical questions: contact@solarsurveys.co.uk or +44 141 628 9009.