Facilities Planning

Building Aid Units (BAU) Calculator Now Available for Your Use

The Office of Facilities Planning is offering a computerized method for calculating Building Aid Units (BAU) on a proposed project involving the creation of new instructional space--i.e., a new instructional facility or an addition to an existing instructional facility. (Note: "New instructional space" means a building or part of a building that was not there before the construction project. It does not mean existing space that will be used in a new way when the construction project is finished.)

Calculations done in the field are in a wide variety of formats and rarely agree with the BAU calculation by our project managers.  We hope that this new calculator will streamline the designers' and the school districts' program analysis, thus making interaction between our office and the field more meaningful.  The new calculator spreadsheet has been formatted to do all of the math required to determine the BAU and the Maximum Cost Allowances.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all the kinks have been taken out of this system and that it will always produce accurate results.  You may discuss any discrepancies with your project manager.

There is some flexibility in the way instructional spaces are defined and we have found that the labels on floor plans for certain spaces are not always an accurate reflection of how the rooms will actually be used.  Due to this flexibility, the project manager will remain responsible for determining the actual BAU to be used in the calculation of Building Aid by the Office of State Aid.

Please note that this calculator only deals with the Pupil Station Method of computing Building Aid Units. At this time, we are not planning on computerizing the Teaching Station Method, the Square Footage Method, or the situations where more than one method has to be used to determine the BAU. Also, it is extremely important to keep in mind the fact that this calculator does not take into consideration smaller class sizes based upon teacher contracts or formal Board policies nor does it limit the BAU to be assigned to a project based upon projected enrollments. All of these things, however, will still be used by the project manager when determining the final BAU applicable to the new space versus the alterations to existing space.

For additional information see Newsletter 9 - 11/8/00

The Building Aid Unit Calculator is available in Excel format.

Please let us know if you had any problems downloading the file below.  To reach us with your comments, questions or suggestions:  hmiller2@mail.NYSED.gov

Building Aid Unit Calculator Excel Image Icon (513KB)

Last Updated: June 2, 2009