Facilities Planning

Final Building Project Report - Reference Guide #E.1

The "Final Building Project Report", which is required by Education Law, serves the very important purpose of assuring a school district that it will be properly reimbursed with state building aid.  The report should provide all financial transactions of the project in order to determine total building aid.

A Final Building Project Report is required for every project involving an instructional building or transportation facility. It is not required for other types of projects which are not eligible for building aid, pursuant to Section 3602 of the Education Law.

The Final Building Project Report (FBPR) shall be executed and filed with the Office of Facilities Planning, Room 1060 - Education Building Annex, Albany, New York 12234, when an approved capital construction project is completed, all obligations have been paid, and the construction account has been closed. The FBPR is based on the mandated Uniform System of Accounts for School Districts, published by the Comptroller's Office. The FBPR must show the source of all authorized monies spent on the project, as well as the exact amount of all expenditures. This includes the contract amounts reported earlier to the Office of State Aided Programs, but also includes any additive or deductive change orders. The report should include any incidental expenditures such as legal, architectural or engineering fees, board of education expenses, site development costs, or furniture and equipment included in the scope of the project.

If a project involves both additions and alterations, the separate expenses for each must be reported under the appropriate categories. Building aid eligibility, as determined pursuant to Section 3602, is calculated separately for additions and for alterations. Careful attention to submitting the report with proper breakdown will eliminate much delay and confusion in processing building aid applications and will assure that the district receives proper allocation of building aid.

Initial reimbursement is made on the basis of estimated costs shown on the Application for Examination and Approval of Final Plans and Specifications (form FP-F) which accompanied the plans and specifications submitted for Commissioner's approval. This information, along with the data submitted to the Office of State Aided Programs immediately after the contracts were signed, forms the basis for the interim State aid payments.

After the Final Building Project Report is submitted, it is reviewed and processed. The eligible expenses in both the construction category and the incidental category are determined and the totals are forwarded to the Office of State Aided Programs where adjustments will be made - if necessary - to the future building aid payments for the particular project.

We emphasize again that the Final Building Project Report should be submitted to the Office of Facilities Planning as soon as possible, after all expenditures have been made. Districts which delay filing these reports are often unable to verify certain costs after a lapse of even a short period of time. In some instances, it has been necessary to obtain a breakdown of costs from the contractor's request for payment. Contractors and architects are sometimes reluctant to provide these figures, since they take the position that their contracts have been satisfied and they no longer are under any obligation to the district.

Last Updated: June 19, 2009