Planning property maintenance
School boards are responsible for the maintenance of school property, and should create and follow a maintenance plan.
Maintenance guide for schools
The maintenance guide for schools explains how to plan and carry out regular property maintenance. The guide was developed by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), in consultation with us.
The guide includes maintenance plan templates for both routine and preventative maintenance. Schools can adapt the templates to create their own maintenance plans.
Types of maintenance
There are a few types of maintenance you’ll have to consider for your property.
Regular maintenance
This includes day-to-day tasks and more general work, like weather damage prevention. Some regular maintenance can be done by your caretaker, but other more specialist work may need to be done by a qualified tradesperson.
Cyclical maintenance
Cyclical maintenance (CM) is the significant maintenance work that schools do on a cycle.
The most common examples are long-term projects such as painting the outside of school buildings – this is usually done every 7 to 10 years.
Your school needs to estimate the cost of cyclical maintenance and set aside this part of the property maintenance grant for when the long-term project will happen. As part of your 10YPP your consultant will complete the CM provision calculator with you and submit this with your 10YPP.
Your school needs to update the CM provision calculator annually and provide this to the auditors.
Long-term maintenance
Some boards enter into a long-term maintenance contract for the school’s cyclical maintenance work every year, or according to a longer-term plan.
You’ll need to update your 10 Year Property Plan (10YPP) summary maintenance schedule to show when your cyclical maintenance is scheduled.
Some long-term maintenance contracts include a financing arrangement. This must be within your school’s borrowing limits and disclosed appropriately in financial statements.
Cyclical capital work
Some major capital items at schools are replaced regularly – like heating systems and roofing. You must plan for this from your 5 Year Agreement (5YA) funding.
Specialist or technical maintenance
Some maintenance will need to be done by a qualified tradesperson, such as:
- annual inspections of gas appliances
- annual servicing of the boiler
- servicing switchboards
- servicing air-conditioning split-system (not related to building warrant of fitness)
- servicing security panels and associated componentry
- playground maintenance.
Your contractors should outline the tasks required for the maintenance work and provide assurances this work is appropriate.
More information
If you have any questions about maintenance planning, contact your property advisor.
Related pages
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Overview of the 10 Year Property Plan
The 10 Year Property Plan sets out the property work a school plans to complete over a 10-year timeframe. We appoint a consultant to work alongside both the school, and us, to prepare the plan.Read more -
5 Year Agreement funding
We provide 5YA funding to schools for capital property work on Crown-owned buildings. The funding covers a 5-year period, and aligns with your school’s 10 Year Property Plan.Read more