Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

328. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average timeline in years for the delivery of a new school in Ireland, from stage 1 to stage 5 and the final handover; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36695/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At present, there are five stages involved in the delivery of a new school building as part of the Pipeline of large scale school building projects. The stages reflect the requirements of the Capital Works Management Framework developed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Department’s Design Team Procedures set out the requirements to be followed at each stage in the process and the Department employs a rigorous and structured approach to permitting a project to move from one stage to the next. This includes robust interrogation of project scope, design and cost by Department delivery teams at each stage.

While many variables can influence the timescale of a project, the following are indicative timeframes for each of the core project stages:

Stage 1 – Preliminary Design (5-6 months) The Preliminary Design stage includes reviewing all information provided as part of the Project Brief. It also involves establishing and analysing all site factors and constraints which may impact on the project’s viability.

Stage 2a - Developed Design (9-12 months) includes development of the design and accurately cost planning the option agreed with the Client. This stage brings the project to the point of lodging for statutory approvals.

Stage 2b - Detailed Design (approx. 12 months, depending on planning complexity) includes obtaining all statutory approvals, preparing a set of fully detailed Tender documents, and preparing an accurate pre-tender cost plan. During the planning application, Requests for Further Information (RFI) from the Local Authority and possible third party appeals to An Bord Pleanála can considerably lengthen the process.

Stage 3 - Tender Action, Evaluation and Award (approx. 12 months). Large scale projects in excess of €5m are required to be ran through a two-stage tender process which firstly requires prequalification of contractors. Further to this, projects in excess of €10m require a reserved specialist process for the appointment of mechanical and electrical contractors. Written submission and authorisation is required to move from prequalification to full tender stage publication.

Projects in excess of €30m undergo a financial robustness check on all pre-qualified contractors. This process is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency Financial Advisory Unit on behalf of the Department.

On the completion of the examination of tenders, written authorisation from the Department must be obtained before issuing Letter of Intent and Letter of Acceptance. Once all the contract pre-conditions in the letter of intent have been met and the Department has given written authorisation to proceed to Contract, a letter of Acceptance can be issued. This forms the contract and is the date for the calculation of the Contract period.

Stage 4 – Construction (12 to 24 months). All members of the Design Team are collectively responsible for the effective management of the project in order to achieve its completion on time and within budget. The contract period is directly related to the size and complexities of the project.

Stage 5 - Handover of Works and Final Account (12 months minimum). The Design team individually and collectively are required to effectively manage the project, and with the co-operation of the contractor achieve a satisfactory standard of construction, and achieve Substantial Completion of all elements of the project by the Contract Section/Phase handover dates and overall Contract Completion.

The structured approach in place, ensures that approvals are provided on an incremental basis and that all design issues have been addressed prior to tendering (reducing potential conflicts and/or claims during the construction stage) and that costs and project scope are tightly controlled throughout project development.

It is important to note that projects are managed and advanced within the context of an overall building programme which must address many competing priorities. There are currently, in the region of 1,400 projects of various stages in the Department’s pipeline, €1.5 billion worth of projects under construction and a further €800m worth of projects confirmed to proceed from tender to construction during 2024 and early 2025. Individual projects must therefore be managed and progressed within the parameters of the overall building programme, including budgetary parameters.

The status of all projects is set out at ().

This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.