Newsletter 74 – April 2006
School Fire Safety Inspection Forms Revised:
The following forms have been revised for all school fire safety inspections beginning April 15, 2006 and thereafter:
- Public School Fire Safety Report
- School Fire Safety Nonconformance Reporting Sheet
- Manual for Fire and Building Safety Inspections in Public and Nonpublic Schools
- Public School Fire Safety Report - Letter to Superintendents
The new documents are available on our website at:
https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/FireSafety/fire_safety_report_homepage.html
The first zone affected by this change is Zone 7, which includes public schools in the following counties: Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster. Also, any building projects that are substantially complete, require a fire inspection and certificate of occupancy after April 15, 2006 should use the new forms. If you have any questions about the new forms, please contact Dave Clapp at: phone: 518 474-3906, email: dclapp@mail.nysed.gov
Final Building Project Reports (AKA Final Cost Reports):
The due date of JUNE 30, 2006 for all Final Cost Reports (FCR) that were substantially complete in 2004 is quickly approaching.
The Legislature set up this schedule to "close the books" for past years. If districts have completed their construction projects, we can’t say it strong enough - Don’t delay! Please send in your FCR as soon as possible so you can get your aid.
Capital Construction Projects Final Cost Report Status:
https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/Reports/Fcrs.htm - It is the Districts responsibility to make sure all FCR’s are submitted on time. Failure to submit your report on time will result in the loss of building aid for that project, including the repayment of any aid, which may already have been received. Extensions can be granted for extenuating circumstances such as litigation. Please submit a written request to Facilities Planning as soon as possible. Schedule final cost reports for new projects 6 months after the submission of the final substantial completion form. The law allows a 1 year extension of this 6 months or a total of 18 months to send it in.
Final Building Project Report Info: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/What'sNewItems/FCR_DueDates.html
Helpful Hints for Completing Final Building Project Reports:
In order to alleviating a large backlog of FCR’s here at the Office of Facilities Planning, we have come up with a short list of the most common problems with these filings. Following these helpful hints will result in our being able to process your report in a much timelier manner.
- Even if you have already submitted the Certificate of Substantial Completion for the project in question, please attach another copy to the FCR. We cannot process the report until this form is received. Make sure both pages are attached.
- Change Orders - Final Cost Report’s cannot be processed unless all Change Orders are submitted and approved. Please check our web site; https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/CHANGOR1.HTM and see that all Change Orders associated with the projects that you are submitting a Final Cost Report for are listed and approved. If they are not, then submit a complete Change Order including Certification pages for approval with your FCR.
- FPFI - Check the SA-4 amounts on all projects to make sure you haven’t exceeded the total allocation for each project. Each project is treated separately. If totals have been exceeded, please attach completed form FPFI to each report along with proper supporting documentation. This documentation can be school board authorization to expend the extra funds on the project or voter authorization including a project by project breakdown showing the total of all projects combined did not exceed the total voter authorization.
- Site Work is incidental to construction and must be reported as such in your Final Cost Report. If this is included in the General Construction Costs, it must be broken out and recorded on page 16.
- The total on page 21 “Source of Funds” should match the total on page 22 “Summary of Expenditures”. The total amounts listed on pages 3–20 should match the amounts listed on page 22.
Should you have questions regarding any aspect of completing your Final Building Project Report, you may contact Joyce Giordiano at Office of Facilities Planning at 518-474-3906.
An Index of our Newsletters is available on our web site at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/NewsLetters.htm.
If you would like to have this Newsletter sent directly to you by e-mail, please send your e-mail address to Joe Levy at jlevy@mail.nysed.gov.
Please continue to send in your comments and requests. If you have a subject you would like addressed, feedback on the material you read, input or general comments we are happy to hear from you.