a) The building will normally be at least 15 years old unless special circumstances pertain. b) Upgrading will have a principal cause: age of buildings, curriculum change, Health and Safety requirements or to provide equal access.
c) The applicant for a grant must include a copy of the school's major maintenance expenditure from the previous year and the percentage of funds allocated for the current year including a list of major items.
d) The project will normally have a minimum cost of $15,000.
e) Capital items - not recurrent - only can be considered.
f) When planning the development of new buildings, it is regarded as being reasonable that the development should normally encompass a minimum period of 15 years. This means that all factors affecting the development need to be considered carefully. This includes curriculum change, enrolment trends, etc. If special circumstances exist which the school believes necessitates a refurbishment earlier than 15 years, then clear, detailed and documented reasons should be forwarded to NT BGA in support of the application.
g) There are a number of factors, which create a need for upgrading. The age of buildings is a major factor in some school buildings where modern ventilation, lighting and similar is clearly desirable as a factor in the comfort of children resulting in a better learning environment.
h) Curriculum change can be caused by a change in direction at school level with the introduction of new subjects at Secondary level in particular. In addition, external forces can come into play such as the Australian Government's focus on Vocational Education & Training.
i) Health and Safety requirements may precipitate the need for change - this could be in the workshop or science room but also general purpose areas may need attention in today's litigious climate.
j) Older buildings can require refurbishment to provide equal access.
k) It is expected that schools will have monies set aside in their annual budgets to maintain the buildings of the school. This is normally part of the business plan of the school. In plain terms, capital grants are not designed to fund maintenance that can reasonably be expected as part of the school's normal ongoing schedule.
l) The figure of $15,000 is used as a benchmark to help assess the size of the project. It is a figure, which would be regarded as quite large in an annual maintenance budget.
m) Items, which would appear on the school's Capital Depreciation Schedule, may be funded.
