Updated: 26th September, 2024
Created: 18th September, 2024
Robert joined Barker in 2002 and is a Partner based in our Braintree office. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he has over 20 years’ experience of all core building surveying services and provides strategic estates advice to key accounts in the education, commercial, ecclesiastical and public sectors.
An education specialist, he provides the following services: estates and energy strategy, asset management planning, project management and capital funding applications.
Robert works closely with clients to plan and implement energy efficiency and sustainability strategies to save money, reduce carbon emissions and meet ESG objectives.
As a RICS Certified Historic Buildings Professional he provides conservation consultancy for clients with listed and historic buildings.
Robert is an experienced APC Assessor and Chairman and is also an external examiner for Anglia Ruskin University
As a Partner Robert leads the Business Development and Marketing function at Barker, builds relationships with key sector bodies and helps steer the strategic growth of the company.
Email: rgould@barker-associates.co.uk
Tel: 01279 648057
The Department of Education’s Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the biggest condition data collection exercises in the UK public sector and will collect data on over 22,000 educational establishments between 2021 and 2026. A summary of CDC and FAQs for schools and Trusts are listed below.
The DfE will visit every government-funded school and further education college in the UK to collect data about the condition of the buildings. This data will provide a holistic picture of the condition of the education estate to inform future capital investment requirements.
No. The CDC programme is specifically not intended to be a replacement for Condition Surveys. The assessment is not detailed enough to accurately inform your estates strategy or Asset Management Plan for the following reasons:
• It is not invasive (only visible condition is inspected)
• It is not structural (critical structural repairs may not be identified)
• It does not report on hazardous materials (principally asbestos)
• It does not address critical health and safety requirements such as fire and intruder alarm functionality
• It does not take into account building use or capacity
• It does not provide descriptions of defects and remedies or cost information for schools or responsible bodies.
• In accordance with DfE’s Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) guidance you should have accurate, up to date condition surveys for your school/s.
The data from CDC has historically been used by DfE to agree funding allocations with the treasury. Moving forward however, it is to be used by DfE to inform and prioritise funding allocations and capital programmes. It is therefore vitally important that the reports are as accurate as possible as they will materially affect the school condition allocations (SCA) received by Trusts.
We have not yet had our CDC survey visit
The CDC programme divided schools into tranches and implementation phases. To find out which tranche your school is in you can download the lists.
The online School Questionnaire needs to be completed by schools at least two weeks before the agreed date of the CDC site visit. It can be completed at any time after a school’s CDC Portal account has been set up. A link to the questionnaire will be emailed to schools after their CDC Portal account has been created. A full list of the information requested from schools is contained in the CDC Guide to completing the School Questionnaire which can be downloaded via the links at the end of this article.
During the inspection, be involved and highlight issues. The surveys are brief and non-invasive. If you can give the CDC surveyor a summary of key issues and show them where they are, it is more likely that the report will accurately reflect your building’s condition. This is especially true of issues that are not immediately obvious such as roofing defects that are not visible or technical/compliance issues with mechanical and electrical plant and services.
Click here to download a full copy of CDC FAQs
If you would like to discuss your CDC report or the management of your estate condition data Contact Us