Building safety projects.
Building safety bids typically score highest on the 60% Project Need weighting. The bid must evidence a present or imminent safety risk, not a planned upgrade.
Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet. Reviewed against ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology March 2026 revision.
What counts as building safety
Fire compartmentation, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, escape routes; asbestos surveys and removal; structural defects (including RAAC); gas safety remediation; electrical-safety remediation against a current periodic inspection report.
Why building-safety bids score highest
The Project Need weighting rewards evidenced risk to operation and statutory non-compliance. A live fire-risk assessment finding or an enforcing-authority notice converts directly into Project Need score.
Mandatory evidence for fire-safety bids
Current Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) and, where external wall systems are in scope, FRAEW. Photographic record, contractor quotations, programme.
RAAC remediation and CIF
RAAC remediation is fundable under building safety. Schools already in the SRP RAAC cohort are not eligible to bid for CIF on the same RAAC scope; the two routes do not overlap.