Here’s some timely advice on planning and prioritising maintenance works to ensure the learning environment is safe, warm and weatherproof
You should maintain the school estate to make sure it is safe, warm and dry for all users. The estate buildings are an important and valuable long-term asset; they may also, in normal times, be open to the public as community facilities. You should plan for, and maintain, your buildings to make sure they are:
safe;
warm;
weatherproof;
providing a suitable teaching and learning environment.
Importance of maintenance planning
Increasing pressure on resources can lead to cuts in your maintenance budget; an evidence-based maintenance plan can help you understand the impact of any budget reductions. Having clear stewardship and maintenance regimes for all buildings will ensure they remain safe environments for teaching and learning, and that the value of the asset is protected.
Poor or irregular maintenance of school buildings can result in:
disruption of education;
closure, or partial closure, of your buildings;
invalidation of your insurance;
poor value for money;
unnecessary expenditure to rectify problems which could have been avoided;
shorter building life;
risks to the health, safety and welfare of your building users;
legal claims;
non-compliance with regulations.
You can reduce these risks by having an effective maintenance regime.
Maintenance types
Maintenance of land and buildings is often categorised as either planned preventative maintenance (PPM) or reactive maintenance and you should consider the balance between PPM and reactive maintenance within your estate. It is recognised good practice to allocate PPM and reactive maintenance budgets in the region of a 70:30 ratio (CIPFA).
Planned preventative maintenance (PPM)
PPM includes works or activities that are undertaken:
before something fails;
to prevent or stop building condition or equipment failure;
to fulfil a legal duty.
Reactive maintenance
Reactive maintenance covers works or activities that are not planned or cyclical. They will be undertaken because of:
the unexpected failure of a component,
vandalism,
accidental damage.
Urgent health and safety works are also considered to be reactive maintenance.
Information needed for maintenance planning
The estate might include buildings of different ages and construction types; these will all have different requirements and challenges for undertaking maintenance and repairs. If a building is of historic interest, or is listed in a conservation area, there may be more stringent controls when carrying out maintenance work, which may require permission.
Accurate data about the condition of buildings is the starting point for longer-term maintenance planning. You’ll need a variety of information about the estate, including:
a plan of the buildings with useful information such as fire safety measures, location of hydrants, location of utility meters and incoming services;
a plan of the site with information about utilities such as mains drainage, stopcocks, cabling and isolation points;
an inventory of important components, and their life expectancy, such as boilers and pipework;
a breakdown of areas by use;
up-to-date statutory compliance records;
a schedule of maintenance contracts, such as annual portable appliance testing (PAT), gas safety, boiler maintenance and fire measures;
contacts for regular building works contractors and property services consultants.
This information may already be held by your organisation. For example, for schools with a religious character, information may be held by the trustees of the school, or the relevant diocese or other religious authority.
Maintenance planning
Planned and prioritised maintenance is an important part of strategic estate management. To support this, you should have:
an overall maintenance plan for the estate;
a plan for day-to-day planned maintenance.
These will help you develop an estate strategy and asset management plan.
As part of your planning, you should consider the cost-benefit of replacing items that incur significant and ongoing maintenance costs. Find out more about producing an estate strategy and an asset management plan.
What to include
Your maintenance plan may cover a three-to-five year period but should schedule a list of works to be undertaken in each year. These yearly schedules should be based on the current condition of the buildings, identified from condition surveys. The plan should identify the main priorities for the estate, including:
regular planned preventive maintenance works;
any planned capital or investment projects, such as window replacement.
Timing of works
Consider the timing for the implementation of each project, as there could be cost or safety implications. Some contractors may charge premiums to carry out works during busy periods, such as summer holidays. To save costs, some projects may be completed during term time, when contractors may be less busy.
Some projects, for reasons of health and safety, may only be reasonably completed when the site is not in full use. For example, it may be appropriate to undertake non-urgent work on asbestos-containing materials outside of term time.
Preventing disruption
A clear plan for managing any works will help to minimise risk and disruption to the running of your school premises. All schools are different, and will not have the same maintenance requirements.
Primary schools are unlikely to have fume cupboards or technical workshops to maintain.
You should consider what maintenance checks and testing regimes are required at your school; if in doubt, you should seek professional advice. You may find it helpful to refer to other health and safety examples.
In addition to maintenance checks on building services, you may need to consider other activities such as:
food hygiene and catering requirements;
maintenance of practical lesson machinery and equipment;
kiln servicing;
general health, safety and security management;
safety signage;
maintenance of CCTV and security equipment.
Understanding the condition
Understanding the condition of the estate will help you:
identify what work is needed to maintain and protect the buildings;
understand what this will cost;
prioritise the works.
The best way to understand the current condition of the estate is to commission a condition survey; this will provide systematic, uniform and objective information on the state of the buildings. Condition surveys are technical assessments and should be undertaken by qualified building professionals.
risk assessment, including impact of element failure and the consequences of not addressing the need;
available resources.
When planning longer-term works, you should take account of the findings of regular maintenance cycles; this allows you to plan and budget effectively, minimising the risk of failure.
Keeping the school safe and secure
Staff and pupils need to be able to work and learn in a safe and secure environment. You can get a balanced overview of risks by carrying out a security survey and risk assessment. This should include the environmental and building factors which contribute to security.
Maintenance and inspection activities should cover any security arrangements you have in place. Security arrangements may vary to reflect the differing nature of sites and buildings. You will need to consider what is appropriate for your organisation, but could include:
perimeter fencing and landscaping;
security lighting;
alarm systems;
security surveillance systems;
access control;
compliance with DBS clearance requirements.
School security is ever-changing, and needs to be kept under constant review, with vulnerable areas identified, and remedial actions implemented, to address them.
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