Effective management of school buildings is the joint responsibility of Devon County Council, as owner of the property and the school as occupiers.  (Note: At VA and VC schools it is the Trustees that are owners of the schools in perpetuity).  Given changes in the delegation of building maintenance and the introduction of Devolved Formula Capital funding, schools now have a greater stake in the management and maintenance of their buildings.  Indeed, the school will have a statutory duty to undertake a number of tasks that Devon County Council might have previously handled.  It was therefore necessary to create a new Schools Premises Manual which could be accessed easily.

The new School Premises Manual is made up of a suite of three documents, detailed as follows, which makes up the new School Premises Manual:

1. Guide to effective management (59KB - pdf help) – A simple, user friendly guide to advise the key issues in premises management
2. Templates – A document setting out the key templates which will assist in effective premises management
3. Standard details (33KB - pdf help) – A document setting out standard design details developed by DfES and detailing good practice techniques used by Devon County Council in school building projects.

In addition to reading this documentation you should also refer to the information set out in the web links within each chapter.  These links provide greater detail and guidance on particular topics.  The new, three part, School Premises Manual provides a comprehensive toolkit to support informed decision making about priorities and investment in the school building.

Please remember that there are a number of professionals on hand to help you with any query.  A list of useful contacts is set out in Chapter 6 of the Guide document.

Together we can ensure that all our school premises are safe and satisfactory environments for everyone.