Facilities maintenance in NSW public schools

Leading through innovation 

We are taking an innovative approach to manage school maintenance. As the experts in school infrastructure, we are moving towards direct management of facilities maintenance. Our new approach aims to provide better outcomes for both our schools and the communities they serve. 

We will move to a ‘service delivery partner’ model. These partners will procure local contractors, on-board them, provide technical expertise and manage the contract administration. This will form a significant shift from the traditional whole-of-government approach, allowing us to:  

• be more responsive to maintenance issues reported by schools 
• ensure we are working with local trades and driving economic outcomes in local communities  
• provide better working conditions for local tradespeople, including faster payment terms.  

Direct management of the facilities maintenance contract across the breadth of our portfolio has the potential to help us keep pace with the needs of our 2,200+ schools located across every part of NSW.  

Other benefits include reducing the administrative burden on Principals and school staff, by simplifying how maintenance jobs are logged. We will also incorporate a range of inspections and maintenance tasks previously led by schools, including pest control, tree inspections and maintaining pools, hydrotherapy spas, playground equipment and all air conditioning systems.

An opportunity to work with us 

In November 2022, we will invite our partners in industry to become one of our service delivery partners through an open tender. Each partner will be responsible for no more than 2 of our 8 operational regions under the model, to ensure we are offering the best possible service to every school in NSW, regardless of their geographical location. More details on the tender will be available on the NSW Government’s eTendering website: www.tenders.nsw.gov.au  

We are looking for industry partners who can bring innovations to our maintenance approach. Job creation and capacity building in regional and remote NSW is a strategic objective for School Infrastructure NSW.  

First Nations Engagement in School Infrastructure program

As part of our new approach, we want to actively promote the engagement of Aboriginal people, communities and businesses in the maintenance and construction of educational facilities. We aim to support economic participation for Aboriginal people and businesses on Country, investing in the development of local skills and trades to build and maintain local schools. This new facilities management contract will see successful service delivery partners work with us to increase and grow a pipeline of Aboriginal businesses and employees engaged in school facilities maintenance 

We want to see that school maintenance work leaves a lasting legacy for communities across the state. 

As part of our new approach to managing school maintenance and, in partnership with Aboriginal agencies and businesses, School Infrastructure NSW has established the First Nations Engagement in School Infrastructure program.

The program is designed to actively promote the engagement of Aboriginal people, communities and businesses in school infrastructure.

The vast scale of School Infrastructure NSW’s asset portfolio and maintenance needs means there are significant opportunities to create positive outcomes through engagement with local communities, including locally owned and operated businesses having connections with and providing work for their local schools and other Department of Education sites.

Job creation and capacity building in regional and remote parts of the state are strategic objectives of School Infrastructure NSW, and creating business and employment opportunities centred around local communities are also key objectives in our facilities maintenance contract.

Embodying the department’s Reconciliation Action Plan commitments to strengthen relationships with, and employment opportunities for, Aboriginal people, communities and organisations, the program and the new facilities maintenance contract approach will also broaden training and sustainable and local employment pathways for Aboriginal school students.

Contact the program to learn more: enquiries.fnesi@det.nsw.edu.au