Information
The Utah State Office of Education has developed this site to help school district and charter school administrators and facilities personnel better plan, build and maintain efficient and effective school facilities that will properly support appropriate education programs for Utah children. Included within this web site is the electronic version of the “School Building Construction and Inspection Resource Manual” plus related law and administrative rules, construction forms, construction- and inspection-related references, plus a list of current construction projects, and new school facilities photographs.
The Utah State Board of Education publishes the “School Building Construction and Inspection Resource Manual” by authority of 53A-20-104.5 (S.B. 68, 1999 General Utah State Legislature) electronically at: schools.utah.gov/finance/Facilities/School-Construction-Resource-Manual.aspx, as an “e-book” on the World Wide Web with many additional resources, as well as links to school construction- and inspection-related web sites, which school districts and charter schools are required to comply with. The manual contains current legal requirements and information regarding school building construction and inspections. The electronic format of the manual allows the State Office of Education to update, revise and distribute the information within the manual throughout the year, as needed, plus it allows users of the new “e-book” to browse and print portions of the manual they find particularly interesting or useful. In addition, publishing electronically reduces the costs of printing and distributing a very large amount of construction and inspection information annually.
Major topics of “School Building Construction and Inspection Resource Manual” include facilities long-range planning; the role and responsibilities of the School District Building Official (SDBO); school site issues such as size and location, pupil transportation into and away from the school, geologic hazards, environmental impact, and acquisition and development, as well as coordination with the local municipality and county; plan development issues such as educational specifications, selection of architects/engineers, facility design, and plan reviews; value engineering and life-cycle costing, as well as structural, energy, and fire marshal plan review; the construction bidding process; the construction inspection process; and maintenance and operation of buildings after construction.
We are hopeful that this information is helpful to you and your school district or charter school. If there are topics that you would like more information on, please contact jenefer [dot] youngfield [at] schools [dot] utah [dot] gov (Jenefer Youngfield) at (801) 538-7669.