What should a school ask before the AV tender goes out?

A school venue succeeds or fails in the tender documents - years before opening night. These are the questions worth settling while the specification is still cheap to change.

Design to the framework, and to value

Western Australian school projects live inside the Secondary School Planning Guide, with Department of Finance and Department of Education objectives at the table. That is not a constraint to resist: at Perth Modern School’s auditorium the design had to stand up on value against comparable projects - and did, rotating acoustic reflectors and orchestra lift included.

Specify the operator, not just the equipment

The person running Friday’s assembly is a teacher, not a technician. Specify control a teacher can run, presets that reset between users, and training delivered to teaching staff as a contract deliverable - not a favour at handover.

Ask how it will be delivered

School sites do not pause for construction. At Warwick Senior High School, high-impact works were staged around school holidays and our crew carried Department of Education site clearances; at Wesley College we deliver under the main contractor’s programme. Delivery method belongs in the tender, not in the surprises.

Demand paper that outlives the project

Commissioning records, documentation the next drama coordinator can inherit, and a named answer for what happens after the defects period. The venue will outlast everyone who built it - the paperwork should too.