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Following the Education Reform Act 1988, certain areas of school maintenance
were delegated to LEA schools to organise for themselves. This was an attempt
to address the backlog of repairs and maintenance. A new focus was placed on
the integrated use, management and value of property, including an integrated
development plan. This was to include both major and minor works and
maintenance and refurbishment with the overall aim of supporting the Academic
Plan. The extent to which a school will become involved in the maintenance,
extension, etc. of property depends on the details of locally-managed schemes
which will vary considerably. Work involving contractors on school and college
premises covers a wide range of situations.
Firstly, it may be consist of one-off situations such as construction or repair,
which could be a new build on an adjacent site, a laboratory refit, or a re-glazing
of a window. The work could last for many months and involve scores of
workers, or could be done by a single contractor in an hour or so. Clearly, costs
can vary from a few tens of pounds to a few millions.
Secondly, it may consist of on-going contracts such as servicing, monitoring, or
cleaning, and may be highly specialised or very basic. Sometimes on-going
contracts can be problematic and turn out to be a millstone round the Client’s
neck. Since it is often difficult to terminate such contracts it is essential to
manage them from the start. The value of the work on a daily basis may be
modest, but their duration can make unsatisfactory long-term contracts
expensive.
In practically all cases the school or college will act as the Client or the Client’s
Agent and must have systems for managing the work so that it presents the
lowest reasonably practicable risks to all concerned. It is important to remember
that risks cannot always be eliminated, but there is a clear duty to manage
them. Risks clearly focus on Health and Safety, but other risks, including
financial risks and risks of disruption of activities must also be included.
Damage to the reputation of an organisation can have far-reaching effects too.
Coping with these risks may require complex management systems, or may
simply involve making sure cleaning materials are kept under lock and key.
Either way, it involves thinking the problem through.
In addition to The HSWA 1974, there are several sets of Health and Safety
Regulations which have a bearing on premises management, including:
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• The workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) regulations 1992
• The Fire precautions ( Workplace) Regulations 1997
• The Provision and Use of Workplace Equipment Regulations 1998
• The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 |
Choice of contractor
a. Follow established tendering procedures:
• Verify financial provision/assured compliance
• Ensure additional requirements are properly authorised
• Use competent advisers charging appropriate fees
• Establish a list of suitable tenderers – using transparent criteria
• Issue a public notice of invitation to tender
• Employ a fair system for receiving tenders, e.g. Notice period, minimum
number of tenders invited
• Prepare detailed and unambiguous specifications
• Ensure there are no artificial restrictions or avoidance of regulations
b. Tendering instructions and protocols:
• Full issue of documents to all tenderers
• Transparent calculation of sums net of vat
• Standard form of documentation
• Specified deadlines for submission and acceptance
• Protocols, e.g. Anonymity, address, format
• Client is not bound to lowest bid or to accept tender in full
c. Standard contract clauses:
• Named supervising officer
• Procedures for damages, unreasonable failure, etc
• Obligation to comply with codes of practice, statutes, etc
• Proof of employer’s liability and other relevant insurance
• Provision for disposal of spoil etc
• Programme of work/valuation of work on completion
d. Receipt and verification of tenders:
• Delivered to specified recipient
• Stored securely, opened simultaneously
• Process performed by designated persons
• Tenders must be scrutinised for errors
e. Post-tender negotiation:
• Technical inquiries in confidence and in writing
• Established rules for contact, communications recorded
• Nominated authorised personnel
f. Acceptance:
• Lowest tender accepted unless for a good reason, e.g. Unrealistic tender,
unacceptable qualifications/conditions, questionable competence/resources
• Consider the contract as a whole; over- and under- estimates
• Where tenders exceed original estimates additional resources must be
allocated before proceeding
• Unsuccessful tenderers notified ASAP; details of successful tender only to
be made available on enquiry
© Creative Education Limited 6836 Page 7
g. Managing the selection process:
• Establishing a detailed register of tenders
• Nomination of sub-contractors
• Orders to proceed etc. Given in writing
• Transparent and efficient systems for small works
• 2/3 written quotations for small/medium works
• Minimum of 5 tenders for major works
• Verify quoted prices are realistic for all parties
• Re-examine the specification - what have you overlooked that the contractor
has spotted?
• Use the pre-acceptance period positively to gather information
• Specify/query standards required - consider how they can be verified
• Retain the right to renegotiate for any additional work
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Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994
An area which has the potential to pose a lot of problems for many school
managers at some time or other is compliance with the requirements of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM), together with
other situations where contractors are on the premises.
Historically, poor planning and management of construction projects has been a
prime cause of unacceptably high incidence of accidents and ill-health. The
important thing is to understand the objectives of the Regulations so however
they are implemented, the desired outcome can be achieved.
A revised Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) and guidance on the Construction
(Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) has been published by the
Health and Safety Commission (HSC).
Although there were no changes to CDM Regulations, HSC took the decision to
revise the original ACoP following an earlier review which found that a
significant number of people in the industry did not fully understand their legal
responsibilities.
The main differences in the new ACoP include a greater emphasis on the
management of health and safety throughout the life of a project; clarification of
the responsibilities of clients and designers under the regulations; and a
restructuring of the document to make it more user-friendly. Key elements of the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 were also
included after the industry indicated it would be more helpful than having to
refer to a separate document.
In addition to new duties for recognised roles such as Client and Principal
Contractor, the Regulations introduced a new role: the Planning Supervisor,
and impose requirements for the preparation of a safety plan, and a safety file.
H&S implications have to be included at the design stage, construction phase,
and beyond into the commissioning, use, and subsequent maintenance etc. of
the building.
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Key tasks
Preparing the Health and Safety plan
This consists of the pre-tender plan, and the construction phase plan. Pre
tender plan is the responsibility of the Planning Supervisor, and will
typically contain:
• a general description of the work
• details of timings of operations
• details of risks to workers
• information required to demonstrate competence by contractors
• information required to prepare the construction phase safety plan and to
ensure welfare provision
In any situation other than new build on a discrete site it will be necessary to
liaise with the Client about existing procedures.
The construction phase plan is the responsibility of the Principal Contractor
and it will typically contain:
• arrangements for ensuring the Health And Safety of all who may be affected
by the work;
• arrangements for the management of health and safety aspect of the work
and for monitoring compliance;
• information with respect to welfare provision;
• risk assessments and method statements of all contractors;
• site rules and specific procedures.
Again, communication between the Principal Contractor and the Client is
essential.
Preparing the safety file:
This is basically a detailed maintenance manual providing relevant health and
safety information to those responsible after handover. It will typically contain:
• as-built drawings and plans
• the design criteria
• general details of construction methods and materials
• details of equipment and maintenance facilities
• maintenance procedures and requirements
• suppliers’ manuals
• details on nature and location of utilities and emergency services
All of the above information must be maintained by the Client along with other
information about the existing premises. The sort of information kept may
include basic servicing records or more significant records such as of asbestos
surveys.
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