Access all Ministry standards and some relevant legal requirements for the planning and design of property projects.
All school property projects must comply with our design standards and requirements, all relevant legal requirements and should follow best practice.
School boards must ensure that any consultant or contractor they use for a project is aware of these requirements.
This summary of design standards is a complete list of the design standards and guidance that we have published.
The table also shows where there could be legal requirements to consider and where there are mandatory Ministry requirements.
| Design standard | Page has document downloads | Legal or building code consideration | Includes mandatory Ministry requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal design standards document | |||
| Designing schools in Aotearoa New Zealand | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Technical indoor environment design standards – Designing quality learning spaces (DQLS) | |||
| DQLS acoustics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DQLS indoor air quality and thermal comfort | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DQLS lighting and visual comfort | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Technical design standards | |||
| Structural and geotechnical requirements | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weathertightness design | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fire safety design | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ICT infrastructure standards | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electrical work in schools | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Whole-of-life carbon assessment | Yes | No | Yes |
| Toilet and changing space design for schools | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fencing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reference designs | |||
| School teaching block reference designs | Yes | Yes | No |
| Design guidance | |||
| Accessible property | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bathroom and toilet provision | No | No | Yes |
| Bilingual signs | No | No | No |
| Chromated copper arsenate treated timber | No | Yes | No |
| Earthquake resilience of school buildings | No | Yes | Yes |
| Energy efficient design | No | No | Yes |
| Floor coverings | No | No | No |
| Glass installed in schools | No | Yes | Yes |
| Hoists for students with learning support needs | No | No | Yes |
| Joinery and hardware | No | No | No |
| Roofing materials | No | Yes | Yes |
| Security design | No | No | Yes |
| Shade and shelter at schools | No | No | No |
Schools are valuable, long-lived social assets. They have given access to education, and inspiration, for generations of ākonga to learn and succeed. We must sustain and enhance the quality of schools for current and future generations. This requires us to be effective stewards of school property.
The purpose of our design standards is to ensure quality and consistent school property outcomes for the enduring benefit of all learners and their whanau, teachers, school leaders and local community.
We do this by specifically focusing on standards where the New Zealand Building Code (Building Code) or other legislated requirements are silent or not fit-for-purpose for schools.
More information about scoping maintenance and property upgrade projects can be found within our specific design standards and on our property maintenance webpages.
We have a suite of property design standards, technical standards and design guidance to follow when planning property work at schools.
We use the term ‘design standards’ to refer to the whole suite. We also have a range of reference designs to help with the planning and design of new spaces and design process requirements to follow when doing this.
The differences are outlined below.
Design standards outline the design principles and spatial requirements that school designs must meet to ensure they align with wider Ministry objectives.
Technical standards focus on specific technical elements or aspects of school property and are usually requirements that aim to standardise outcomes for schools, or are above Building Code where necessary to ensure schools are fit-for-purpose.
Reference designs are easily repeatable designs for teaching blocks and areas within a school that have specific requirements. For example, toilets, changing spaces and designs to support accessibility. They can be easily customised to suit school sites, educational needs, or existing buildings and have been shown to deliver good outcomes for learners and the Ministry as asset owners. Reference designs documents are often accompanied with best-practice design guidance.
Design guidance provides helpful insights to support fit-for-purpose learning environments and best practice for school property.
Design assurance we undertake independent, high-level reviews of school development projects at various design stages.
Find more about our design assurance and review processes on our webpage.
All building work at schools must comply with all relevant and current legislation including, but not limited to:
All other statutory building requirements, standards and council bylaws.
The Building Code has 'compliance' documents that set out:
For more information on Building Code compliance requirements, go to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Building Performance website.
We want to constantly improve the content and usability of our documentation.
If anything in these documents seems to be ambiguous, inaccurate or in conflict with other Ministry documents, you can contact us through school.design@education.govt.nz.
Your feedback will help us to maintain these design standards as a valuable resource for those involved in the design of our schools.
