Educational Environments: The vital role of Proper Asset Management in School Buildings, Creating Better Communities ⚽️🌿
Well-maintained school buildings play a significant role in educational outcomes. They provide a safe and comfortable environment for students and staff, which helps enhance learning and contribute to academic performance. It’s just one of the reasons why effective asset management is so important for schools, particularly in times of constrained funding.
Conversely, buildings in poor condition may have issues such as mould, bad air quality, or inadequate heating and cooling. This can lead to health problems for students and staff, decreasing concentration, and leading to decreased attendance. If equipment breaks down, or classrooms have to be closed for emergency repair,
By deploying an asset management system to optimise decision-making, schools can understand exactly what assets they have, their condition, and their location. This helps prioritise the use of resources and avoid unnecessary spending on duplicate assets and costly reactive maintenance callouts. Maintenance schedules can be more efficiently planned, reducing disruption to learning during school terms.
Schools can also predict when replacements might be needed and budget or seek funding accordingly. Importantly, potential problems can be detected and addressed before they become critical, reducing potential safety issues and ensuring compliance. Maintaining school buildings and funding upgrades is challenging for all sectors, regardless of the source of funds.
In the public sector, capital costs are mainly funded by state and territory governments. Schools must apply to the Treasury for funding which requires detailed costing. Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) also frequently raise money for new facilities and upgrades such as air conditioning.
In the Catholic school sector, parents and communities must raise the costs of capital projects privately, contributing up to 90% of the costs required to support school buildings and other capital works. In 2021, Catholic schools invested around $2 billion in capital projects, with 11.3% coming from Federal and State governments.
For private schools the situation is similar, where parents contribute the vast majority of capital investment through fees, fundraising, and voluntary contributions, with around 14% coming from commonwealth and state grants, such as the Commonwealth Capital Grants Program.
The Federal government’s School Upgrade Fund aims to invest $270.8 million over two years to improve school facilities across the country, with grants available for both government and non-government schools. Schools "must be able to demonstrate a reasonable basis for the estimated project cost".
In all these cases, schools must demonstrate the need for and cost of building projects. Transparency on maintenance liability and forecasting funding requirements are critical.
As well as capital projects, schools have asset management requirements that are set by state governments as well as non-government bodies. For example, the Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton has clear asset management guidelines for a "preventative maintenance plan using an appropriate maintenance management system (ICT based)".
Compliance and lifecycle management
In NSW, the Department of Education and Training (DET) has asset management plans for each school site, using the information provided by the asset management system (AMS), the Properties planning unit, the school, and its community. Non-government school premises and buildings must also meet all relevant legislation and council and government requirements. The responsible management of finances and accountability to stakeholders are key principles.
The DET is taking a lifecycle approach, with school asset management guidelines noting that: "Assets need to be maintained if they are to continue to provide a satisfactory level of service to the community. Over the whole life of an asset, the operating costs which include the use of water, energy, and cleaning costs, may accumulate to an amount which substantially exceeds the initial purchase cost."
In Victoria, the Building Quality Standards Handbook (BQSH) sets the minimum quality criteria for all Department of Education and Training (DET) capital projects, including new construction, refurbishment, and maintenance works. For new buildings, operations, and maintenance information must be provided by project consultants, including "preventative maintenance to prolong life including procedures, tests, and schedules".
All schools, including non-government schools, that receive capital funding and don’t have a current AMP (less than five years old) are required to develop a new AMP in partnership with their regional office and the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA). Schools wanting to fund a new facility must also submit a business case verifying that the school can fund and maintain the facility over its life.
The role of asset management software
Having a powerful asset management platform can be a huge advantage for schools. Most schools manage and operate thousands of assets, from buildings to facilities and equipment, and collecting and storing data on everything is challenging, particularly with older, manual systems. Damage and loss are also common in such a high-traffic environment, creating a need for continuous, real-time updating of information.
As schools seek funding, they must be able to make a compelling case for projects. The government's focus is clearly on accountability and long-term strategy, and this is where the right AM platform is vital.
We recently partnered with a school authority to develop a data asset management plan and ensure a safe, compliant education environment. The project involved AssetFuture’s data acquisition team working closely with the organisation to collect quantity and condition data for over 50 schools, using the AssetContinuity mobile application.
Having an accurate, dynamic asset register, with AssetFuture’s forecasting capabilities, has enabled the organisation to proactively plan maintenance, repair, and replacement activities for the school it manages. It also has budget forecasting capabilities which ensure the overall condition profile of the schools remains at the desired level. This makes it much easier for funding to be sourced where required.
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