Construction Work

Before any work on refurbishment of existing clinics begins, the school must ensure the clinic is empty of any school furniture and equipment.

DHBs need to comply with the requirements of the Education Act 1989 and the Ministry of Education’s policies when undertaking construction work on school grounds. DHBs have been advised of the following requirements.

Police vetting

Construction workers on school grounds need to have police vetting to ensure the safety of school students during school hours during the construction phase. The DHB can request vetting through the Teachers Council but DHBs cannot send it directly as the legislation requires that vetting must be requested by the board of trustees.

As this can take up to six weeks, DHBs have been instructed to submit the application form to the board before on-site construction starts and to allow sufficient time for the application to be processed. The board is requested to forward this on to the Teachers Council. There is more information about police vetting at www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz.

Ministry of Education’s Design Requirements

All construction work, including refurbishment, needs to comply with the relevant ministry design requirements in Section 6 of the Property Management Handbook. It is the responsibility of the DHB to ensure this happens and they have been provided with the list of relevant ministry design requirements, which you can download for your information at the bottom of this page.

Terms of Approval for Construction of Oral Health Facility on school site

Before starting any work at the school the DHB will need to obtain an approval of the terms governing the construction work at the school. This is a simplified version of the Construction Licence used for other building projects at schools being undertaken under a Third Party Occupancy agreement. The Terms of Approval agreement is designed to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities when building work is undertaken at schools.

Insurance during construction

The DHB is responsible for ensuring the appropriate insurances are sought during the construction period, such as public risk liability, contract works and professional indemnity – this is covered in the Terms of Approval for Construction Work.

Safety in relation to construction works

The DHB is responsible for ensuring all occupational health and safety requirements are met, for example, having barriers to keep students away from the construction area - this is also covered in the Terms of Approval for Construction Work.

Documentation

At end of construction the DHB must supply the board with ‘As-built’ and ‘As laid out’ (CAD) plans. The board must forward these to the local ministry office, in the normal way, for updating the PMIS. This applies to upgrades of existing clinics as well as new clinics built with DHB funding.

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