Lea Hough Chartered Surveyors’ education team has been hard at work this summer, managing a series of upgrade and improvement projects in academy schools across the North West. Thanks to funds obtained from the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), schools have been able to undertake significant building work during the summer break.
Following the announcement of the latest CIF funding round in June, our team began planning the approved work for several schools; including specifying, tendering, and planning to ensure that the chosen contractors were ready to start on day one of the school holidays. Due to the time constraints, we use contractors with experience working in schools and keeping to schedules.
Our extensive experience working with schools ideally places us to project manage building works successfully. To this end, Headteachers and executives of schools who are part of Academies and Multi Academy Trusts can leave their schools in the capable hands of our project management team over the summer holidays safe in the knowledge that the works will be complete in time for the new school year to commence in September.
Some of the projects we have overseen this summer included roof repairs, boiler & central heating replacements, electrical upgrades, windows & doors, safeguarding improvements, boundary fencing, fire safety improvements, kitchen replacements and gas and ventilation compliance. Projects have been successfully completed at single Academy Schools, schools that are part of Multi Academy Trusts and Sixth Form Colleges.
As well as CIF-funded projects, we have also project-managed several SCA-funded projects at schools and academies, having secured SCA funding on behalf of these schools.
Having successfully overseen around fifty projects this summer, our team are now positioned to begin a new round of applications for the forthcoming CIF funding round.
Any schools that are looking to make an application for CIF funding this year should get in touch as soon as possible. We are able to visit your school and undertake a free audit to identify any potential projects. From here, we would work with you to prepare the application, gathering all of the necessary evidence and populating the application using our many years of experience.
To find out more about our CIF application services, please get in touch.
