Furniture and equipment for integrated schools

Information about the grants and funding available, what they are for, and how to access them.

Boards are responsible for the financial governance of their schools, and must use and report the furniture and equipment grant and new square metres funding appropriately. Their school’s projects must meet the requirements of the new square metres funding, and proprietors must lead the claims process. 

• Key information
• Annual furniture and equipment
• New square metres furniture and equipment
• All-of-government (AoG) procurement
• Further information

Key funding information

What it is: an annual furniture and equipment grant, and new square metres furniture and equipment funding

What it is for: replace and modernise existing furniture, provide furniture and equipment for new spaces (roll growth teaching spaces and new schools).

Key dates: the annual grant is paid on 1 July. New square metres funding is paid on receipt of invoice. 

Annual furniture and equipment grant

Purchasing furniture

The Board must:

• own the equipment
• record it in the school accounting system
• be responsible for insuring it as part of their contents insurance.

Calculating annual furniture and equipment funding

Annual furniture and equipment is calculated as a fixed percentage of up to 5% of the proprietor’s Policy One budget. The percentage amount depends on the school type.

Policy One funding for capital work at integrated schools

Funding rates for different types of schools

New square metres furniture and equipment

The Ministry provides boards of state-integrated schools with furniture and equipment funding for eligible new square metres up to their School Property Guide (SPG) entitlement. New square metres over the SPG entitlement don’t qualify for this funding.

The funding for new square metres is based on net square metres. It doesn't include:

• corridors
• circulation space
• toilets, and so on.

Proprietors submit a claim and the Ministry pays the funding to the board. The funding is to furnish new rooms with furniture and equipment appropriate for the room’s use.

Areas that don't qualify

New square metre projects that don't qualify for furniture and equipment funding are those that:

• provide facilities for the first time at a school within existing floor space, such as a building conversion
• build new facilities with annual furniture and equipment funding — in this case, the annual furniture and equipment rate applies.

Rates for new square metre funding

The rates for new square metre funding for furniture and equipment are:

• regular net area rate — $125 per square metre.
• specialist net area rate — $380 per square metre.

The specialist net area rate is based on an average of all types of spaces. Fitting out some spaces, such as a hard materials workshop, might cost more than this rate but the costs will average out over time.

Accessing the funding

Once a construction contract is let, the board must send an invoice to its proprietor for checking.

• The proprietor sends the invoice to the Ministry for payment.
• Invoices are paid upon receipt.

The table below sets out the steps for calculating and claiming funding for a new square metre project. For claims that miss the final submission of 30 June (end of the financial year), the proprietor is able to resubmit next financial year.

All-of-government (AoG) procurement for schools

Boards may be able to make significant savings when purchasing equipment for their schools through the all-of-government contracts.

New Zealand Government Procurement website(external link)

Last reviewed: 07 December 2020 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback