Building and grounds maintenance policy

Early Learning Victoria is committed to ensuring that the buildings and grounds of all Early Learning Victoria centres are well-maintained, safe, hazard free and fit for purpose for children, families, staff and other users.

1. Scope

This policy applies to staff and management of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes Early Learning Victoria centre and Early Learning Victoria corporate staff, volunteers, students on placement and contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria.

2. Policy statement

This policy sets out the maintenance requirements for Early Learning Victoria centre buildings and grounds and the asset management responsibilities of Early Learning Victoria centre and Early Learning Victoria corporate staff.

The policy also outlines the Make-safe procedure that must be followed if an Early Learning Victoria centre has been damaged following an ‘incident’ or ‘event’ and requires urgent repairs to make the site safe.

2.1 Requirements

Under the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (the Regulations) services are mandated to have policies and procedures in place ensuring reasonable precautions are taken to protect children from harm or hazards that could cause an injury.

The Regulations require premises, furniture and equipment to be safe, clean and in good repair (Regulation 103). In education and care services, the upkeep of buildings, furniture and equipment impact directly on the safety of children and service staff. Upkeep refers to the responsibility of services to implement effective maintenance, cleaning and appropriate safety precautions, which also helps prevent injuries and the spread of infectious diseases.

Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance

Responsibility for maintaining Early Learning Victoria centre buildings and grounds is shared between Early Learning Victoria centre staff and Early Learning Victoria corporate staff.

Early Learning Victoria centre staff are responsible for undertaking daily safety checks of indoor and outdoor learning environments to ensure that premises, furniture and equipment are safe, clean and in good repair and promptly reporting any maintenance issues to the centre’s Asset Manager.

Early Learning Victoria Asset Managers (Early Learning Victoria corporate staff) are responsible for scheduling routine maintenance, inspection and safety tasks for Early Learning Victoria centres and responding to maintenance issues reported by centre staff.

Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plans

Early Learning Victoria centres are established with an Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plan which schedules required routine maintenance, inspection and safety tasks to be undertaken either by centre staff, the Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager, or by an external contractor when the activity requires a qualified professional.

Early Learning Victoria Asset Managers are responsible for establishing and updating Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plans.

Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plans are saved in the Department of Education’s (the department) Asset Information Management System (AIMS). Centre directors are trained in and have access to AIMS.

Routine maintenance

Routine maintenance tasks are simple, small-scale activities undertaken regularly to support the upkeep of buildings and grounds by preventing wear and tear, preventing new maintenance issues from arising, and reducing reliance on emergency maintenance activities.

Required routine maintenance tasks are scheduled in each centre's maintenance plan.

Some of the routine maintenance activities to be undertaken by centre staff include:

visual inspections of walls, windows, floors, and doors
visual inspections of outdoor play equipment, sand pits and timber decking
visual inspection of shade sails and shade sail support structures
replacing batteries in smoke detectors.

Some of the routine maintenance activities to be undertaken by qualified contractors include:

roof inspections
down-pipes and guttering inspection and cleaning
stormwater drains, grates and channels clearing
solar panel audits and inspections
shade sail engineer inspections
tree audits and inspections
landscaping, mowing and weed control
pest control.

Annual contracts

Early Learning Victoria Asset Managers are responsible for managing annual contracts on behalf of Early Learning Victoria centres for routine maintenance, inspection and servicing for:

hygiene (nappy bins, sanitary bins, sharps containers)
air conditioning
termite inspections.

Essential safety measures

Essential Safety Measures (ESMs) are building safety features that may include fire detection and alarm systems, fire doors, emergency lighting and fire hydrants. The Building Regulations 2018 require building owners to maintain essential safety measures so that they operate satisfactorily.

The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is responsible for coordinating ESM inspections, testing and annual reporting for Early Learning Victoria centres.

The Regulations also require Early Learning Victoria centres to display their current occupancy permit (OP) in an approved location. An OP, also commonly known as an occupancy certificate, is a declaration issued by the relevant building surveyor that a building or part of a building is safe for occupation. The OP provides crucial information to emergency services in the case of an emergency and information for auditors for inspections.

Condition-based maintenance

Early Learning Victoria Asset Managers are responsible for condition-based maintenance activities which respond to identified maintenance issues.

This includes addressing issues identified through routine maintenance activities as well as those reported by Early Learning Victoria centre staff. A proactive reporting approach is essential, where staff are encouraged to promptly raise any concerns or observations regarding the condition of facilities or equipment. Timely responses to these reports ensure that issues are resolved efficiently, maintaining safe and functional environments while minimising the risk of further deterioration or disruption to services.

Some examples of condition-based maintenance activities are:

items identified by routine maintenance activities, including ESM testing and inspections
replacing lightbulbs
repairing leaking taps
unblocking toilets
repairing broken windows
repairing damage to door handles
replacing/topping-up sand pits
replacing/topping-up playground mulch
repairing gates/fences
repairing playground equipment
repairing or replacing electrical appliances.

Urgent repairs

When urgent repairs are required to make an Early Learning Victoria centre safe following an ‘incident’ or ‘event’, Early Learning Victoria centres must follow the Make-safe procedure.

All other repair requests must be promptly reported to the Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager for response.

The Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager is responsible for determining if reported issues are within scope of the Defects Liability Period (DLP) and referring in-scope DLP repairs to the VSBA Project Manager.

Early Learning Victoria Make-safe procedure

The department’s Make-safe Program assists Early Learning Victoria centres that have sustained damage through an ‘incident’ or ‘event’.

If an Early Learning Victoria centre has sustained damage that occurred directly on the centre’s site through an ‘incident’ or ‘event’ and urgent repairs are required to make the centre safe, the nominated supervisor must:

in an emergency where there is an immediate hazard to students and staff, contact Emergency Services (Fire Brigade, Ambulance, Police) on 000
contact the Incident and Security Operations Centre (ISOC) on 1800 126 126
contact the Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager
if the Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager cannot be contacted, contact the Make-Safe service provider directly on 1300 133 468.

Please note, Make-safe only responds to incidents that occurred directly on an Early Learning Victoria centre’s site (e.g. a switchboard fire has resulted in a power outage).

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of staff

The approved provider is responsible for:
- overseeing and managing asset maintenance to ensure safety and security for all children, families, staff and other users through effective resource deployment from the department
- ensuring Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plans are created and updated in AIMS to schedule and record routine maintenance activities
- ensuring contractors are engaged to undertake scheduled routine maintenance activities, and condition-based maintenance and repairs as required.
The nominated supervisor is responsible for:
- ensuring that centre-delivered maintenance activities, as scheduled in the Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plan, are completed
- following the Make-safe procedure when urgent repairs are required to make an Early Learning Victoria centre safe following an ‘incident’ or ‘event’
- promptly reporting all other repair requests to the Early Learning Victoria Asset Manager
- ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety requirements for operating plant and equipment, including requirements for testing and tagging electrical equipment (see the Plant and equipment management policy)
- minimising impacts on children, and facilitating access for asset management functions, such as on-site rectification work until repairs are completed.
The Early Learning Victoria Asset Managers are responsible for:
- establishing and updating each Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plan in AIMS to schedule and record routine maintenance activities
- scheduling routine maintenance, inspection and safety tasks for Early Learning Victoria centres
- responding to maintenance issues reported by Early Learning Victoria centre staff
- engaging contractors to undertake scheduled routine maintenance activities, and condition-based maintenance and repairs as required, according to the Early Learning Victoria centre maintenance plan.
Educators are responsible for:
- noting any maintenance issues or concerns, taking appropriate action to ensure the safety of children, and reporting issues or concerns immediately to the nominated supervisor
- ensuring indoor and outdoor cleaning and safety checklists are conducted on a daily basis and prior to any children entering the outdoor play space (see the Hygiene and cleaning policy).

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Building Regulations 2018
Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
National Quality Standard, Quality area 2: Children’s health and safety
National Quality Standard, Quality area 3: Physical environment
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017

Hygiene and cleaning policy
Plant and equipment management policy

Definitions

Event: An event is a natural or incidental occurrence that makes a site unsafe. Examples may include floods, fires, storms, and civil disturbance.

Incident: An incident is any malicious activity by a person that makes a site unsafe. Examples may include vandalism or theft of infrastructure critical to safety.

Education

Updated 5 September 2025