Information for consultants on Department of Finance projects

As a lead consultant working on a non-residential building project, you will be responsible for a range functions during the procurement process, including:

• being the single point of contact for queries during the tender process
• preparing technical aspects of the request documentation 
• providing technical advice and reports to the evaluation panel during the tender evaluation process
• managing and coordinating a team of specialist consultants

You can engage engineers, building surveyors and other building specialists through our panel arrangements.  Access to these panels is available by emailing WorksConsultancyPanels@finance.wa.gov.au

Architectural Services Brief

The Architectural Services Brief outlines the scope of services and technical requirements for the planning, delivery and maintenance of non-residential government buildings in both metropolitan and regional Western Australia. The brief includes general requirements that apply to all non-residential government building projects and may be updated for project-specific requirements if required. 

Primary School Brief and Secondary Schools Planning Guide

The Western Australian Government is committed to providing high quality education environments that support the learning needs of every student. In response to increasing urban and regional growth, the Department of Education and the Department of Finance collaborated to produce the Primary School Brief and the Secondary School Planning Guide – a collection of documents that define the operational and technical requirements for government primary and secondary schools. 

The guides are designed to assist consultants and builders to quickly build new government schools in a consistent and functional way – ensuring durability, value for money for government and consistent facilities across the state for the benefit of students. They include models and templates which can be used at short notice on varied sites with minimal design changes. This helps to enable fast construction for additions, renovations and new schools. 

Primary School Brief

• Request access to the Primary School Brief

Secondary School Planning Guide

• Request access to the Secondary School Planning Guide

Access to the Primary and Secondary School briefs is restricted to authorised consultants. If you are a consultant working on a government school project and do not have access to these documents, contact your Department of Finance project representative or:

Email:    building.records@finance.wa.gov.au
Phone:  (08) 6551 1808

We can assist with project-specific design and sustainability issues, including:

• determining and reviewing sustainability initiatives and targets for projects
• advising on market-based rating tools such as Green Star
• identifying sustainability initiatives for specific projects
• research and technical support.

Please contact your Department of Finance project representative for more information about sustainability for your project.

You can find additional information about green star certification on the Green Building Council of Australia website.

Under the Building Act 2011, building or demolition work must:

• have a permit unless exempted by the Building Regulations Act 2012
• comply with the National Construction Code (NCC/BCA). 

The Department of Finance has authority to issue permits for the government building projects that we manage. See the building approvals process in WA on the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) website for information about building approvals, permits and certificates. 

For information about:

• applying for a building permit (BA1), including certifying and certificates of design compliance (BA3)
• applying for an occupancy permit (BA9), including certification and certificates of construction compliance (BA17)

see the permits and processes section of the DMIRS website and the building approvals forms section of the DMIRS website. 

We perform the functions of a permit authority to review and grant building, demolition and occupancy permits and certificates. Please submit your application to permits@finance.wa.gov.au. We will respond to your application in ten business days. 

For more information, contact your Department of Finance project representative or our Building Permit Authority team:

Email:   permits@finance.wa.gov.au
Phone: (08) 6551 1914

Design reviews assess building quality issues including durability, sustainability, maintenance, building performance and operation, functionality and fitness for purpose. Reviews are performed on all projects over $1 million at key stages of the project lifecycle, including project definition, schematic and design development. 

The design review process

1. Submit a copy of the designs and documentation to the Department of Finance project manager 
2. We will review your submission and provide you with a design review report including a list of design queries
3. You must respond to the design queries within five business days.

Please respond promptly and actively participate in the design review process – this will contribute to your appraisal in the consultant performance report.
 

For projects over $1 million, we review your pre-tender project documentation to make sure it meets tendering and construction standards and is aligned across all design disciplines. 

Documentation is reviewed at pre-tender stage, at the same time as the pre-tender estimate or bill of quantities is prepared. All consultants are responsible for providing complete, accurate and thoroughly checked documents.

The documentation review process

1. Submit your request documents to the Department of Finance project manager at least two weeks before the final submission of tender documents
2. We will review the documentation and identify any areas that need clarification
3. You must respond to those queries within five business days
4. If we identify any significant issues (such as not aligning to design disciplines), we will request your attendance at a workshop

Please respond promptly and actively participate in the documentation review process – this will contribute to your appraisal in the consultant performance report.

We conduct post-occupancy evaluations on built projects at the request of the responsible agency. They are done at least 12 to 24 months after occupancy to allow for defects to be fixed and give building occupants time to adjust to the new building. 

Post-occupancy evaluations include site investigations, review of design and documentation, surveying building occupants, and interviewing operational and maintenance personnel. We use the findings from the evaluations to inform future policy, project scoping, briefs, advice and design and documentation reviews.

The Department of Finance maintains records of government buildings and a catalogue of government infrastructure heritage buildings dating back to the early 1900s. To access construction records, please complete a Freedom of Information Request. To access maintenance-related information, please contact us:

Email:    building.records@finance.wa.gov.au
Phone:  (08) 6551 1808

If you are the lead consultant on one of our projects, you must comply with all of the requirements outlined in the Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) Protocols for Contract Deliverables manual. These requirements form part of the contract for all of our building projects and help us comply with the State Records Act 2000. It is also your responsibility to ensure that all drawings by sub-consultants are delivered on time and to the standards outlined in the manual. Delivery requirements are outlined in your contract and can vary depending on the type of project.

Failing to provide us with all of the required documentation is a breach of contract and may result in action being taken in accordance with the relevant contract. 

Delivery of as-constructed drawings, specification, operation manuals and warranties

For guidance on providing all the above, please see the delivery of as-constructed drawings, operations manuals and warranties flow chart.

If you have any queries about your record-keeping requirements, please contact us:

Email:   building.records@finance.wa.gov.au
Phone: (08) 6551 1808
 

We use the PACMAN system to manage payments and variations on non-residential government building projects.

For consultants engaged on AS4122 (1993-Int) General Conditions of Contract, you will need to use the Supplier Portal of our PACMAN system to electronically lodge all payment and variation claims. Supers Representatives are also required to use the PACMAN system to certify payments under AS2124.

We maintain access and security of the system and will advise you of any outages or updates. If there are any changes to contact details within your organisation, please inform us as early as possible.

If you have any questions about the system or access, refer to the PACMAN system guides, forms and templates. For further assistance, please contact us:

Email: pacmansysadmin@finance.wa.gov.au

For use by consultants working on Department of Finance non-residential building projects.

• Technical guidelines
• Non-technical guidelines
• Forms and templates
• Design standards

For quick reference guides and forms relating to the Project and Contract Management system (PACMan) go to PACMAN Forms and Support Material.