Network News - April 2009

What’s new – the Noticeboard

Funding for Swimming Pool Heating

Government funding is available to upgrade pool heating, extending the swimming season for school children.

As winter approaches, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is reminding schools they are eligible to apply for a subsidy available to public swimming pools.

EECA will pay up to 25 per cent of the cost of unglazed solar water heaters. These are typically matting that can be placed on nearby buildings to collect solar energy and transfer it to the water.

Applications are open until 29 May for solar water heating systems that will be installed by June 2010. Information on applying is available on the Energywise funding for swimming pools website.

Changes to project management requirements

The Government is giving priority to capital spending in school property. This economic stimulus includes bringing forward a number of projects and programmes - see the March 2009 Network News.

To help schools get their capital works projects underway as soon as possible the Ministry of Education is reviewing its project management processes in Section 5 [PDF v1.4; 1.96mb] of the Property Management Handbook.

The following initiatives were introduced on 7 May 2009:

Funding advances for all projects

(Section 5.3.6)
When Ministry advice of a project budget approval is received, the board may apply to the Ministry for an advance of 10% of the project funding for projects over $100,000 to advance the consultants fees.

The previous project limit was $500,000 and the previous advance was for 5%.

This change will enable schools to make faster progress with projects, particularly those included in the School Property Guide Deficiencies and Replacement Buildings programmes (see section 3 [PDF v1.6; 1.28mb] of the Handbook).

All other conditions in 5.3.6 still apply with the additional requirement - payment of these advance fees is subject to a project plan being agreed to by the board, its project manager and the Ministry in accordance with its performance targets.
Seeking prices on Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS)

(Sections 1.4.2; 5.2.3; 5.2.6; 3.18.3)

GETs is a free electronic service that advertises current government tenders and opportunities. Boards must use GETs to advertise for projects over $100,000. This is an increase from $50,000.

Using GETs is a very effective way for boards to advertise and can be used to advertise for all projects, including those under $100,000.
Obtaining quotations

(Section 5.2.9)

Getting quotes for goods or services is an economic and efficient approach for items of low value, small quantities, and trade-standard items which can easily be specified. Previously, procurement by quotation was only acceptable for projects up to $50,000. The quotation process can now be used for projects up to $100,000.
One step reimbursement process

(Section 5.2.22)

For projects under $100,000, the board can opt to follow an abbreviated process which only requires documentation to go to the Ministry when the project is completed. This is an increase from the $50,000 in the Handbook.

No prior Ministry approval is needed for projects under $100,000 if the project is included in its correct sequence in the school’s 5YA, or relates to any other approved Ministry project budget, for example, a roll growth classroom.
Project manager contracts

(Sections 5.1.11; 5.4.5; 5.4.20)

Existing project manager contracts are now able to be extended to include new project(s) if the subsequent project is less than $25,000 and is lower than the original project value.
Change of 5YA re-sign date

Rural schools may seek a change of their 5-year agreement (5YA) re-sign date if they are part of a formal school cluster that has been established to collectively employ project managers.

These changes have been incorporated in Issue 3 of the project management forms where relevant.

Further initiatives will be announced in July 2009.

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Preferred Supplier Project Managers Pilot Programmes

The Ministry is setting up a preferred-suppliers service for school project management services in two North Island locations. The first pilot programme is in the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne region. This group includes Gisborne, East Cape, Wairoa, Napier and Hastings. The second is in the Northland area which will include the Far North, Whangarei and Kaipara districts.

The preferred supplier service aims to speed up the start of capital projects by reducing the time needed to engage consultants.

Preferred suppliers will be selected using the Ministry’s procurement processes. Boards will be able to choose new project management consultants from a list of preferred suppliers without going through a full procurement process.

The preferred supplier service, which is expected to be available from June in the Hawkes Bay and July/August 2009 in the Northland region, will not affect existing contractual arrangements. For future contracts, boards can choose whether to engage a preferred supplier from the list or continue to manage their own consultant procurement processes, as they do now.

Preferred suppliers will be able to:

prepare and/or review 10 Year Property Plans
manage capital improvements and maintenance type projects if needed, including:
- prepare all documentation
- engage sub-consultants
- call tenders
- commission contractors
- provide contract supervision through to completion
provide boards with general professional property advice as required.

The key benefits for boards are:

less time and money spent procuring consultants
capital and maintenance projects completed within expected timeframes
a choice of pre-selected consultants
consultants who are audited regularly for quality and standard of service.

Further information on the service will be available in the next month or so. Plans are in place to pilot this programme in the South Island and more details will be made available shortly.

If you have any questions or comments at this time please, contact Mark Stallmann, Policy Analyst, Ministry of Education at mark.stallmann@minedu.govt.nz [no spam] or telephone (04) 463 8273.

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Hand washing to prevent the spread of swine flu

Having the right hand washing facilities at your school and encouraging good hand washing practices will go a long way to reduce the spread of swine flu.

It is timely to review the facilities at your school.

The Ministry’s Health and Safety Code of Practice has mandatory requirements for hand washing basins in schools. Section 28.2 & 3 of the Code is repeated here as a reminder:

28.2 Wash-hand basins (whb)

(a) General requirements:

Female/Male	1 – 70	1 whb
	71 – 250	2
	> 250	Add 1 per 250
Disabled facilities	1 – 300	1 whb
Disabled facilities	> 300	2

(b) Every wash-hand basin shall be provided with an adequate piped supply of warm water, liquid soap and equipment to facilitate adequate hand drying. If a wash-hand basin in an existing building does not comply with this requirement, schools shall bring the wash-hand basin into compliance when that wash-hand basin is upgraded. All newly-installed wash-hand basins must comply with this requirement. Buildings with hot water systems to hand basins shall at all times be provided with an adequate piped supply of hot water which is not to exceed a maximum temperature of 40^o C.

28.3 Soap and hand drying

Soap and hand drying facilities shall be provided to prevent the spread of infection.

Schools must upgrade to the standard in the Code, which includes the provision of warm water, liquid soap and hand drying facilities, when upgrading or installing new facilities, when doing upgrades or building new facilities.

If the facilities at your school do not meet the standard in the Code and you don’t have upgrades planned in your 10-Year Property Plan (10YPP), your school could be facing a health and safety risk that has the potential to shut the school in times of epidemics/pandemics.

See the Ministry’s information about Pandemic Planning particularly the Planning Guide planning guide which has detailed information about hand washing.

For more information about the Mexican Swine Influenza visit the Ministry of Health's website.

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