Step 1: 10YPP start-up and Desktop Condition Assessment

Information and resources for 10YPP consultants.

Before beginning work on the 10 Year Property Plan (10YPP) you should introduce yourself to the school and confirm the process and timing for developing a 10YPP. This is especially important if the school principal is new and has not been through this process before, so they understand what is expected of them and the deadlines you are working to. You may also use this opportunity to discuss the school’s completed School Evaluation of the Physical Environment (SEPE) and to complete the desktop condition assessment and detailed physical assessment of the school buildings.

• Start-up
• Collecting school data and information
• Amending data and school plans
• Desktop Condition Assessment
• Assessing learning environments
• Step 1: resources

Start-up

Following Ministry advice to schools of your appointment, it is your responsibility to contact the school and introduce yourself. This is so you can begin your relationship with the school, set expectations, and everyone understands their role and responsibilities. You may want to combine this with your Desktop Condition Assessment, and/or your detailed physical Condition Assessment, and discuss the school’s completed School Evaluation of the Physical Environment (SEPE) depending on the location of the school.

Designing learning environments - School Evaluation of Physical Environment (SEPE)

You may extend an invitation to your school’s property advisor. You should call or meet with your property advisor in any case, to discuss any issues with the school and to access information held by the Ministry.

Collecting school data and information

You will need to collect what data and information is readily available for review prior to meeting with the school. Some of this information is available to you from the Property Portal and MPlan, much of it will need to be sourced from the school or your Property Advisor. This is likely to include, but is not limited to:

Amending data and school plans

When you visit the site you may find omissions or discrepancies in the CAD site plan and/or the K2 data, for example, new blocks not added, demolitions not recorded.

Data

If there are data issues, you should note these changes and complete a Building Update Form, which is used to keep our building information up-to-date. This form is available on the Helios Portal.

To access the form in the Helios Portal:

1. Select the school (business unit)
2. Select the relevant building
3. Under the Reports section, click on the Building Update Form by School (PDF link in blue)
4. Click on Open in the pop-up box at the bottom of your screen to view the document
5. You can choose to either print, or edit and print (if you have PDF editor), or save it

Existing information will be pre-populated for that particular building, with empty boxes to update.

CAD Plans

If the existing CAD plan is out of date or otherwise unusable, you will need Ministry approval for funding to create a new CAD plan. You will need to:

• Note why a new plan is required
• Provide a quote for the measure and creation of a new CAD plan
• Send to MEC.Inbox@education.govt.nz

This will be funded by the Ministry.

Desktop Condition Assessment

The Desktop Condition Assessment is a workshop using existing data and knowledge to provide a virtual assessment of the school’s condition and the works required. It relies heavily on the practical knowledge of the participants - the principal, caretaker and other property personnel.

Use the Desktop Assessment Preparation Checklist and the Desktop Assessment Questionnaire. 

1. Identify Strategic Impacts

It is important to identify Strategic Impacts to ensure a building's level of maintenance reflects its current and future use, and to justify any major infrastructure works - for example, the need to replace a boiler.

The first step in the Condition Assessment process is to meet with school representatives to discuss any planned actions that will affect the use or condition of a building, now or in the future.

If a Strategic Impact is identified, it is then recorded against a building or service. Any specialist reports or other relevant property reports for a school should be uploaded as a ‘Strategic Impact’.

Any Strategic Impacts must be carefully documented as they form the basis of the Condition Assessment and the 10YPP process to follow.

When forming the Strategic Impact, consider:

• predicted changes in enrolments (up or down)
• the impact of new technology
• the effect of other Ministry programmes, like weathertightness remediation or earthquake strengthening
• specialist reports - for example, structural reports that will impact the Condition Assessment (the report title, author and source should be noted for later reference and a copy of the report uploaded in the Strategic Impact)

You need to guide the school through this discussion and document the Strategic Impacts in the MPlan system.

To support the Ministry’s quality assurance measures, it is important that Strategic Impacts information is accurately entered into the MPlan system.

The Condition Assessment process is covered in more detail in the 10YPP training for consultants.

2. Agree Maintenance Standards

Work with school representatives to agree the Maintenance Standards to be applied to each school building.

Maintenance Standards define the desired condition of buildings and services. Condition Assessments should be made against the relevant maintenance standard. The standards also establish quality and presentation levels which a school is required to achieve.

Maintenance Standards are aimed at avoiding uncertainty about the overall level of condition that a facility, or part of a facility, is to be maintained to.

The standards allow realistic Condition Assessments to be undertaken, and the development of maintenance policies and practices to be negotiated between the school and 10YPP consultant. They can then be used to:

• set the type and frequency of cyclic maintenance and inspections
• define acceptable threshold levels of performance and presentation
• fix acceptable standards of workmanship, appearance and cleanliness
• establish acceptable response times for the correction of faults, and
• define performance criteria for maintenance contracts.

Each building or service will have one of the following ‘Maintenance Standards’:

Maintenance Standards are just one of the necessary inputs into the MPlan system.

Assessing learning environments

Schools were required to complete the Innovative Learning Environment assessment tool but this is no longer in use and has been replaced with the School Evaluation of the Physical Environment (SEPE). This evaluation tool is designed to assess how well a kura/school’s physical environment (inside and outside on the whole school site) supports teaching and learning approaches, the diverse needs of students, and the wellbeing of everyone on site. The completed evaluation tool will identify where the kura/school's physical environment is working well and where there is room for improvement. SEPE will be available through the Helios Portal after the school completes it and is a key input into the property plan.

Go to Step 2: Detailed physical assessment and specialist reports

Last reviewed: 11 May 2022 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback