Capital Works Projects

761 Mr BOYER (Wright) (27 August 2021). How much of the $10 million granted to The Heights School under the Building Better Schools program has the school been allowed to keep? What is the total tendered cost of current capital works at The Heights School?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education): I have been advised of the following:

In May 2020, the final pre-tender estimate provided by the project's cost manager indicated that the project was over the approved budget of $10 million by 3.3 per cent prior to going to tender.

The building works are in the final stages of documentation completion with final costings being part of that process.

Under the Department for Education's capital works program, contracts are awarded through a competitive tender process following a rigorous evaluation. Savings from any projects that come in under budget are retained by the department to be used as a pool of funding for managing any higher costs that may arise for projects that exceed tender budgets or face particular cost pressures due to unforeseen issues.

This is standard practice for Department for Education capital works programs over many years and is a key component in mitigating risk to the delivery of the overall program of works.