Tips for a good CIF application

The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can provide game-changing funds to improve the condition of school and academy buildings – but only around a third of applications are accepted each year.

So how can you make sure you submit a high-quality bid and increase your chances of success?

The answer is to follow the tips below, and consider investing in the services of professional advisors who can ensure you present the best possible case.

Experienced chartered surveyors for education such as Surveyors to Education (S2e) can advise on all aspects.

The Department for Education’s CIF guidance highlights how your application should not only communicate clearly the problems your school is facing to someone who can’t see it for themselves, but should also spell out the impact poor buildings are having on teaching and learning.

Also, the need and urgency for your repair or replacement project must be supported by strong evidence in detailed technical reports and surveys.

Clear and focused evidence

Be clear and specific about every aspect of your application, the DfE says.

  • Make it easy for the assessor to understand your bid

  • Show why your project is a priority for funding and cannot wait for future rounds of CIF

  • Read applicant guidance in detail (S2e can explain anything you are unsure about)

  • Focus rigorously on the areas of highest need and urgency

  • Only include lower priority items if absolutely necessary, and explain why you have.

Independent evidence and support

  • You must have independent, expert technical advice to support your proposal, e.g. surveys, engineer reports and site layout plans

  • All surveys must be within the last three years. They do not need to cover the whole school but if you are applying for a specific area e.g. the heating system, or part of the roof, you will need a recent specialist survey for this work

  • Surveys must be independent. This is critical and proposals often fail on this point. Non-independent surveys come from firms that also provide a quote to carry out the work, or surveys from manufacturers. An independent survey will be conducted by a qualified chartered surveyor for education such as S2e

  • Photographs helps assessors understand your bid, but they must show the full extent of the condition need not just localised issues

  • If you need external approvals, it helps to get them in advance, e.g. LA planning approval or Section 77 assessment (disposal of playing fields).

Well-considered options

  • Consider all your options with an open mind, and don’t present a preferred option as a fait accompli

  • Quantify the alternatives, and show the costs and tangible differences in your options

  • Always present a “do nothing” option, i.e. prove what the negative impact would be, particularly when trying to demonstrate urgent need.

Detailed costings

  • Show your costings clearly and in as much detail as possible. A clear and detailed specification of work will help you get them

  • The more certain your costs, the lower the financial risk, i.e. multiple tenders or formal quotes are more certain than estimates. Quotes should cover the same scope of works

  • Be realistic. Yes, you want to keep costs down, but be realistic about how much you need, including contingencies. Underestimates put you at risk of going over budget, and you are highly unlikely to be awarded extra funding after project approval

  • Make sure you can afford any financial contributions you put forward. If you cannot, your project may have to be value engineered or cancelled

  • Ensure the repayments on any CIF loans you intend to take out are affordable.

Rigorous planning

  • You will need a clear and detailed delivery plan, showing how, when and by whom the project will be delivered

  • Minimise disruption through project phasing, i.e. plan project delivery around school holidays

  • Provide a task-based risk register to prove you have planned in detail for the range of risks inherent in building projects, from health and safety, to scope changes to delays.

Use of technical advisers

Technical advisers such as S2e cannot apply on your behalf but we can help prepare your application and project manage the works. At S2e we meet the DfE’s requirement that “technical advisers are of a high quality and that costs are within a reasonable limit.”

If you require any further information please contact us on  01530 877969or email enquire@s2e.org.uk.

Adam RichardsSurveyors to Education