Better strategic procurement for maintaining schools: An Australian context

At the end of 2005 a school buildings maintenance audit in the state of Victoria. This audit provided details of the condition of all building elements, many sub-elements, external works and services for all government schools, together with an assessment of any immediate future works that may have been required to maintain the facilities in a serviceable condition to allow them to function effectively. The results highlighted the need to develop better models for organizing maintenance in the future to reduce the steadily increasing backlog starting to accumulate in all schools across the system.

This paper provides contemporary definition and reviews of maintenance and procurement and identifies trends and benchmarks for maintenance in school buildings. The final key section of the paper considers a range of potential maintenance procurement strategies from low risk, little change to more radical approaches using a facilities whole life approach and public and private partnerships.