Good design is vital to the BSF programme and the PfS Design Team work with CABE and the DfE to ensure that local authorities and schools are given the best guidance to ensure design quality. Buildings and grounds need to be functional and flexible to suit the schools needs both now and in the future. They need to be built well and to last, and they must have an impact - within the school, as a catalyst for transformational learning, as well as the local community.

Guidance and publications relevant to the design of schools within the BSF programme are available from various sources, and some of the most useful are listed below.

• Building Bulletins
• DfE publications
• CABE publications
• Standard Specifications, Layouts and Dimensions (SSLD)
• Other useful design publications

PfS design guidance

In addition to the design-related BSF Standard Documents and Guidance (such as the Output Specification), the Design Team at PfS have established a Design Process Protocol that sets out a common process for local authorities to follow through each stage of BSF. The protocol clarifies the key design-related activities and deliverables required from the LA, approvals and PfS activities from Strategy for Change Part 1 through to post-occupation evaluation.

Linked to the Design Process Protocol are templates for the drawings needed, and proformas for abnormals (in the OBC appendices) and Schedules of Accommodation (zip file) to be identified in standard formats.

Looking for room data sheets or area data sheets? They are in the the Output Specification zip file.