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.

What a 10YPP is for

The 10YPP is how boards of state schools or kura identify and plan property works. The 10YPP:

  • prioritises and schedules property projects to complete in the 10-year planning period
  • plans for maintenance work and modernising learning spaces
  • provides budgets for proposed works
  • identifies potential changes in roll numbers.

The Property Occupancy Document (POD) requires schools to do a new 10YPP every 5 years. Schools can access their 5 Year Agreement (5YA) funding once their 10YPP is approved.

The Property Occupancy Document for state schools

How to prepare a 10YPP

We’ll appoint an external 10YPP consultant to work with your school, and us, to manage the development of the 10YPP. We also pay the standard costs of preparing the 10YPP.

School boards must take part in preparing the 10YPP for their school. They’re responsible for setting the direction of the 10YPP based on the needs of their school. To help define these needs, each board will need to complete a ‘school evaluation of physical environment’, or SEPE.

Boards also provide information to the consultant to help them create the 10YPP. This could include information about:

  • the school site and buildings
  • services such as heating, plumbing and electrical.

The consultant will assess the condition of the school and arrange for specialists to inspect key structures and systems. Once that’s done, they’ll schedule a planning meeting with both the school board and us to discuss the information they’ve gathered.

The consultant will then create a draft 10YPP and present it to the school board. When the board agrees to the 10YPP, the consultant will submit it to NZSPA for approval.

10 Year Property Plan steps for schools

How to prioritise work in the 10YPP

You must follow the priorities we set for capital funding when deciding what work to include in the 10YPP.

If you identify urgent health and safety issues during the 10YPP process, you must address them immediately rather than include them in the 10YPP. These issues have the potential to harm people or close the school and are considered priority 1 projects.

Work that doesn't need to be addressed immediately is prioritised in the 10YPP as follows.

Essential infrastructure: These projects are for maintaining the integrity of building structures and services. This work is often identified during the condition assessment. Essential infrastructure projects include things like heating replacements and roofing replacements. They don’t include day-to-day preventative maintenance, such as gutter clearing.

These are projects to upgrade and enhance learning environments. This work may be identified while you’re completing the SEPE. Examples include upgrades of classrooms to design quality learning spaces, and classroom reconfiguration.

These projects are not essential and can only be carried out after all priority 1, 2 and 3 projects have been completed. Examples include:

  • remodelling an administration building
  • paving
  • carparks,
  • landscaping and playgrounds.

Amending your 5 Year Agreement (5YA)

A 5YA is an agreement between the School Board and NZSPA about funding for the first 5 years of capital projects. 

You may need to make a change to your 5YA if: 

  • your funding changes – for example, if there’s an increase in your 5YA budget
  • the budget needs to be adjusted due to an urgent project
  • significant overspending means you may not complete some projects
  • underspending makes it possible to add new projects
  • your school experiences a disastrous event – like a flood – that affects the projects you have planned.

To change your agreed 5YA agreement, talk to your property advisor.

Related pages

  • 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

  • Property maintenance grant funding

    The property maintenance grant (PMG) is part of school operational funding. It's used to maintain Crown-owned buildings and facilities.
    Read more

  • Surplus school property

    If your school has property it no longer needs or uses, the school board can decide to release it. This means they no longer need to cover the cost of maintaining surplus property.
    Read more

  • Funding for property maintenance and upgrades at integrated schools

    We give state-integrated school boards funding to maintain their integrated property. School proprietors receive funding for capital works.
    Read more