Maintaining your estate
Advice on planning and prioritising maintenance works to ensure the learning environment is safe, warm and weatherproof.
You should maintain the 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 be open to the public as community facilities.
You should plan for and maintain the 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.
You should consider the balance between PPM and reactive maintenance. 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:
- unexpected failure of a component
- vandalism
- accidental damage
Urgent health and safety works are also considered 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 utilities information such as mains drainage, stopcocks, cabling and isolation points
- a breakdown of areas by use
- an inventory of important components and their life expectancy, such as boilers and pipework
- 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
- building condition surveys (if available)
- asbestos register and asbestos management plan
- 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 3 to 5 year period but should schedule a list of works to be undertaken in each year. These should be based on the current condition of the buildings, identified from condition surveys.
Identify the main priorities for the estate, including:
- regular planned preventive maintenance works
- any planned capital or investment projects, such as window replacement
Timing works
Consider the timing for implementation of each project, as there could be cost implications.
Example
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.
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.
Example
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 provides systematic, uniform and objective information on the state of the buildings.
Condition surveys are technical assessments and should be done by qualified building professionals.
Read more about condition surveys and how to procure professional services.
Prioritise works in your maintenance plan, taking account of:
- any legal duties and responsibilities
- works which may impact health, safety or security
- works impacting the envelope of the building, electrical or mechanical services (heating)
- condition grading indicating the likelihood of failure
- 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.
Example
An annual maintenance inspection of a boiler may identify potential problems so that it will need to be replaced earlier than previously identified.
Find out more about how to prioritise your maintenance works.
Maintenance work will include relatively minor works as well as larger projects.
You may have responsibilities under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. This will depend on the type, scale and complexity of the works.
Further information is available in estate projects.
Planning for smaller jobs should be simple, short and proportionate to the risks.
If you need to procure specialist expertise to carry out some of your maintenance work, you should:
- follow agreed procurement policies
- be aware of different procurement options
- specify your requirements clearly
- manage your contracts well
You may wish to enter an arrangement with a professional technical advisor or property consultant. They will be able to advise you independently on building fabric and building services issues.
This may be advisable if you:
- are considering maintenance projects such as a capital repair or replacement based on comprehensive condition surveys
- need an independent assessment of repair or replacement works recommended by maintenance contractors
- need an independent audit of the performance of a maintenance contractor
- have concerns about the safety of systems or the condition of buildings or services – this may include structural concerns such as cracking in walls or asbestos
- need accurate project cost plans for budgeting, bidding for funds, procurement of maintenance or works contracts, project or contract management services
If you do seek external advice, you should be aware of the possible application of procurement rules. This will depend on the value of the consultancy services. You may want to consider the use of frameworks to procure professional services.
Before undertaking any maintenance work, you should follow some basic steps.
Appoint competent representatives to manage and advise on contractor activities
Your representatives should:
- have sufficient health and safety knowledge for the planned work
- be available throughout the duration of the contractor’s activities
Appoint a competent contractor
Your contractor should:
- be experienced in the type of work you are planning
- have liability insurance that reflects the risk involved
Meet with the contractor and agree the works
You should ask your contractor to explain how they will manage the risks they will create.
Your contractor should:
- be able to explain the steps they will take, the risks at each step and the measures to control the risks
- produce documents that are specific to your site and work activity – this should include a site and task specific risk assessment and method statement
Share information about your estate
You have a duty under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 to provide contractors with relevant information about your estate, for example the asbestos register. This will enable work to be undertaken safely without risks to the:
- contractor’s health
- health and safety of others
Agree the site set up
You should agree with the contractor how the site should be set up. Any changes should be communicated, considered and agreed before being implemented.
Where a proposed change may increase risk, you should challenge this and get assurances that the risks are to be actively managed.
Issue a work permit
You may need to issue a work permit to authorise works to take place. This could relate to works with specific risks such as hot works.
Read information about work permits, including:
- managing fire risk from school maintenance or building works
- the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Human factors: permit to work systems
Agree supervision and communication
Your contractor should:
- explain how their work activities will be effectively supervised
- meet with you on a regular basis to discuss progress and any issues as they arise
Manage the contract
Once the works commence, the person appointed to administer the contract should make sure that it is well managed. They should make sure that the terms of the contract are met, or any variations are formally agreed. This will help:
- reduce or prevent the risk of errors, including over-charging
- reduce the impact of identified risks thereby ensuring defined outcomes
- deliver the works and achieve value for money
- reduce the risk of contractual disputes
- improve the likelihood of implementing contractual performance incentives
- increase opportunities to generate lessons learned to promote continuous improvements
You will need to be aware of health and safety issues when you manage and maintain land and buildings.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides information on safe maintenance of the estate.
The safety of all users of the estate, including contractors, is very important and you need to understand what your responsibilities are.
This is a complex area and you should refer to specialist guidance and if necessary, seek independent professional advice.
Further guidance is available in the health and safety section.
Statutory examination and inspection, testing and maintenance
You will need to inspect and test your buildings, plant and equipment as part of your maintenance regime.
Find further advice on recommended testing frequencies.
If in doubt, you should seek independent professional advice.
You should keep certificates and details of all statutory examinations, testing and remedial work.
Use this tool to track your compliance activity or look for similar tools from other organisations.
Arranging inspection services
You may have contractual arrangements in place which provide technical advice or procure maintenance works on your behalf. These could be in the form of a service level agreement with your local authority, or a contract with other service providers. This is often in place for statutory inspection and testing.
In schools that are subject to a private finance initiative (PFI) arrangement, the PFI provider will normally have contractual responsibility for:
- repairs and maintenance
- statutory inspection and testing
Where you have no formal arrangements in place, you are advised to use organisations or contractors who are recognised by an appropriate industry standards body. You should make sure they have been vetted for:
- technical competence
- financial probity
Local authorities and other responsible bodies will often hold a list of such contractors. You also need to be aware of relevant procurement legislation. In some cases an insurance company might provide the inspection service (typically lift insurance). You can access a route to the commercial insurance market through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).
Academies that are covered by the risk protection arrangements (RPA) for academy trusts can contact Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC).
Certification and information you need to hold
The certification and information you should hold for the estate will vary depending on the specific construction type and building services installed.
There are some major items of fabric, plant and equipment likely to be present in most schools, including:
- boilers (and other gas installations and equipment)
- electrical fixed wiring and equipment
- water systems
- fire and security systems
Many schools may also have:
- catering equipment
- air conditioning systems
- asbestos
- lifts
- local exhaust ventilation (LEV) extraction systems (kitchen extract)
- gym equipment
For details on certification and information you should hold for these and other items, you should refer to the health and safety section.
You may have additional responsibilities if you:
- occupy leasehold premises
- share your premises
If you occupy leasehold premises
If you lease land or buildings, you may have a maintenance obligation. Any obligations or responsibilities will usually be set out in your lease agreement.
You may not be responsible for maintaining all of the land or buildings. You should be clear about who is legally responsible for what. You may need to obtain the landlord’s consent before undertaking any works.
The terms of a lease do not absolve you of any legal duties imposed on you, including those under health and safety legislation or as an occupier of premises.
You should refer to specialist guidance and if necessary seek independent professional advice.
If you occupy shared premises
If you share the building with other users, you may be under a legal duty to co-operate and co-ordinate with other users and occupiers of the building. For example, Regulation 11 of the Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations 1999 imposes a duty of co-operation and co-ordination between employers sharing a workplace.
Where a building is occupied by more than one user, then it’s important that the results of any risk assessments should be shared with other occupiers of the premises where relevant. This would include risk assessments covering fire safety, the control of vehicle movements and asbestos.
Even if there is no direct control over common areas of the premises, the employer needs to ensure that access and egress through these areas is safe for employees, visitors and contractors.
Common areas of premises are those that are used by tenants (or occupiers) but are not controlled by them. Common areas may include:
- car parks
- access routes
- internal staircases
- corridors
- lifts
Where there are shared services, the tenant should take reasonable steps to ensure that they are maintained in a safe condition and without risks to the health of employees and visitors. This applies even where the tenant does not have any control over these services. Shared services could include:
- electrical installation
- gas supply
- heating
- fire safety systems
Schools with a religious character
Most schools with a religious character (including academies) do not own the buildings or the land they’re built on.
The freehold title is often held by the trustees of the school. By occupying the land a school or academy agrees to follow the terms of the trust deed.
In these cases, consent is required from the trustees of the school in relation to any dealings with the land. This may include approval:
- to carry out any surveys of the property
- for any works to the land and buildings
- for all substantial decisions on the use of the site
You may need to seek further advice if you are not sure of the terms of the trust.
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. Read the detailed guidance on school and college site security.