Costing facilities

Facilities are the buildings, or space in buildings, used for the classes and activities of a literacy program. Facilities may be bought, rented, or specially built for the purposes of the program.

Cost factors for facilities are directly related to the size of a literacy program.

Here are some cost factors related to program facilities:

• Training facilities
• Classroom facilities
• Storage facilities
• Administrative facilities
• Facilities for production activities

• Remember to consider space for storage. If a program is large, you may need a lot of storage space for books and instructional materials.
• Shop around to get a good feel for rental expenses. Landlords will tend to charge more for a building if they suspect external funding might be involved.
• Encourage local communities to assume responsibility for local classrooms including maintenance costs.
• Be generous with your allowances for maintenance costs. These tend to be higher than one would expect.

• Ask questions like the following:

  • To what extent are local classrooms available for use?
  • Will another entity provide any of the needed facilities?
  • Can you rent administrative, training, and storage facilities?
  • If not, what construction projects will be needed?

  • What kinds of building maintenance costs must you anticipate?

    • Cleaning of facility
    • Fixing broken windows
    • Fixing leaking roofs
    • Fixing plumbing
    • Fixing electrical systems
    • Painting
    • Plastering
    • Replacing grass or tin roofs
    • Security of facility

• From your program plan, determine the facilities which will be needed.
• For each facility which will be needed, determine whether it must be built, modified from an existing facility, or simply rented.
• For each facility, prepare a statement of costs.

  Include the following line items as appropriate:

  • Purchase cost
  • Construction cost
  • Preparation or modification costs
  • Rent or lease expense
  • Utilities cost
  • Maintenance costs
  • Any equipment costs not handled elsewhere
  • Inspection and licensing costs
• Sum up these costs to get your total costs for facilities.

• Funding a literacy program
• Preparing a budget for a literacy program
• Costing a literacy program

• Task module: Costing facilities
• In task module: Determining program costs
• In task module: Costing a literacy program
• In task module: Preparing a budget for a literacy program
• In task module: Funding a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter and Trudy K. Stewart (general editor)
• In task module: Identifying resources needed for a literacy progra..., by Stephen L. Walter
• In task module: Planning a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Plan a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Barbara K. Trudell (contributor), and Trudy K. Stewart (general editor)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 May 1999

© 1999 SIL International