Attica Schools

We originally provided due diligence services to the lenders – EIB and the JESSICA UDF Fund - before acting as lenders’ technical advisor and independent certifier, overseeing the construction phase of the developments.

Now that the schools have gone live, the team will monitor the facilities management and life cycle costing of the finished buildings for a further three year period.

The building infrastructure accommodates public schools of nursery, primary and secondary education, plus two technical colleges.

We acted as lenders’ technical advisor (LTA) to the European Investment Bank (EIB), National Bank of Greece (acting as the Urban Development Fund of JESSICA in Attica) and Alpha Bank during the construction phase of the scheme. This included carrying out monthly site inspections, attending monthly status meetings, reporting on site progress, reviewing expenditure, cost forecasting, verifying drawdown requests, issuing payment certificates, identifying projected cost overruns, monitoring progress and reviewing and commenting on the PPO reports.

We also acted as independent certifier (IC), acting on behalf of the Buildings Infrastructure S.A. (formerly the Organisation of School Buildings S.A.). This role comprised monitoring of the compilation of the reviewable design data (RDD), monitoring the project’s construction process, monitoring of the quality assurance system of the project, supporting the contracting authority, in relation with the forecast or certification of compliance of works, inspecting the project’s facilities and their compliance with the services availability requirements, issuing of the acceptance certification and compiling a snagging list.

Now that the schools have gone live, the team will monitor the facilities management and life cycle costing of the finished buildings for a further three year period.

The school sites were varied and posed unique challenges. Many of the schools were to be built on sites of historical importance, with six of the fourteen sites featuring archaeological antiquities and /or listed buildings.

The complex funding model of this PPP project, meant that the scheme was subject to stringent capital controls.

Our experience within the education and heritage sectors allowed the team to support the PPO in adopting bespoke architectural and structural solutions according to the specifics of the site, such as shorter foundations, steel structures, etc, which impacted positively both on the time-schedule and the exploitation of land.

To counter the stringent capital controls, we supported the financial re-structuring of the project, presenting a revised financial model to the lenders that focused on the revised CAPEX and REVEX.

We also prepared LCC models for all 14 school units allowing them to adopt more realistic handback requirements and supporting the PPO to negotiate handback requirements with the contracting authority.

This ambitious, landmark project has benefited more than 3,500 students, providing 150 classrooms, 14 multi-purpose rooms, 3 indoor gyms and 104 rooms with other uses.