CIF for fire safety and compliance works in 2027 to 2028

By Grayling Thomas Architects · October 2026

Fire safety is one of the strongest cases a school can put to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF). The Department for Education (DfE) says it gives "the highest priority to condition projects that address compliance and health and safety issues", and names "building safety matters, fire protection systems, gas safety, electrical safety or emergency asbestos removal". Fire doors and alarms are named among the high-priority components the DfE expects the majority of CIF-funded projects to involve replacing. Priority is not the same as funding, though. A fire safety bid still has to prove the need with independent, specific evidence, set out a clear scope, and, for RPA members, go to the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) first where the works may be covered.

The current round is CIF 2027-28. It opened on 21 October 2026, and applications with all supporting documents must be submitted by 12 noon, 15 December 2026. New applicants must register for a CIF portal account by 12 noon, 30 November 2026.

For how CIF bids are scored on need, cost and planning in general, see the practice's complete guide to CIF funding for schools.

Not every school can apply. CIF is open to schools that, at the start of September 2026, were stand-alone academies, sixth-form colleges, or academies or voluntary aided (VA) schools in a trust or VA group "with fewer than five schools or fewer than 3,000 pupils". A school with a signed academy order as of 1 September 2026 that the DfE expects will convert to a CIF-eligible responsible body by 1 April 2027 is also eligible. Trusts, VA bodies and VA groups with five or more schools and at least 3,000 pupils receive School Condition Allocation (SCA) instead, and local authority maintained schools other than VA schools are generally not eligible: their local authority receives SCA. The key dates and rule changes for this round are covered in a separate guide; this article deals only with fire safety and compliance bids.

When does CIF give fire safety the highest priority?

The fund exists, in the DfE's words, "to keep school and college buildings safe and in good working order". Compliance and health and safety sit at the top of that purpose.

When assessors score a condition bid, project type is one of five sub-criteria under project need, and project need carries 55 of the 100 points available. The top band, "Highest priority", covers projects addressing legislative compliance and health and safety "where there is a risk of imminent school closure". Fire safety is listed in that band by name, alongside gas safety, electrical safety, building safety matters and emergency and managed asbestos removal.

Two details in that wording matter. First, the band is tied to a risk of imminent school closure, so a fire safety project without evidence of that risk is unlikely to be placed in the top band. Second, the DfE says "Assessors will make a final judgement under which category each project falls." Labelling a bid as fire safety does not place it in the top band. The evidence does.

The DfE's information for applicants for this round also says the DfE expects "the majority of projects supported through CIF to involve the replacement of high-priority components such as structural elements, boilers and electrics, fire doors and alarms, roof coverings and windows, and asbestos removal". A fire door or alarm replacement is the kind of work the DfE says it expects CIF to support.

Fire safety and compliance work a CIF bid can cover

In a school estate, fire safety bids usually cover one or more of these:

• fire doors and doorsets that no longer close, seal or hold their rating;

• fire alarm and detection systems at the end of their life or no longer adequate for the building;

• compartmentation and fire stopping, often in roof and ceiling voids where gaps have built up over years of cabling and alterations;

• emergency lighting and escape routes.

The wider compliance group in the guidance takes in gas safety, electrical safety and asbestos. These often turn up together, because an older block with failing fire doors frequently has tired wiring and asbestos-containing materials as well.

Where refurbishment works are proposed in existing buildings, the DfE asks that "any elements of non-compliance with the performance requirements of the DfE's construction design standards should be clearly identified in the application, including supporting evidence and outline specifications." For a fire bid, that means stating what falls short today and specifying what will replace it.

Keep the bid focused. The guidance says you will score low marks if "You include low-priority issues alongside urgent works with no justification." To score well, the DfE says "You only include works of the highest need" and "Any non-essential items included are fully justified as part of the project." Making good after a fire door replacement needs that justification in the cost plan; refurbishing the toilets next door does not belong in a fire bid.

What evidence does a CIF fire safety bid need?

The evidence is where a fire safety bid is won or lost. The guidance asks for a lot, and it is specific about what does not count.

An independent condition survey. "Surveys should not be older than 1 October 2023. They need to be independent and impartial." A survey is not independent if, for example, it is carried out by a firm "that has also quoted or tendered for the work or is a manufacturer of any proposed solution". The survey should grade condition A to D and priority 1 to 4, and the DfE says "We expect surveys to demonstrate D1 to C2 condition issues." The practice's article on why a strong condition survey is the key to CIF funding success explains what a survey written with a bid in mind should contain.

For a special school, the practice's article on condition surveys for special schools covers what is different, and its guide to education building surveys and what school leaders need to know explains how condition grades become evidence for a bid.

Specialist fire evidence. "Fire safety & security" is one of the areas the DfE lists for further specialist evidence. It also asks for "Letters about compliance from appropriately qualified professionals relevant to the specific issue e.g., from a fire safety inspection". It adds that "generic letters of support are not acceptable". A fire door inspection report that lists each door, its defects and its location is far stronger than a covering letter saying the doors need attention.

Plans and photographs. Floor plans should show "the location and extent of the proposed works". For fire doors and compartmentation, a marked-up plan of every door and compartment line lets an assessor see the scope at a glance. Photographs should be labelled with commentary on the issue being shown.

Evidence of closure risk. If the case rests on the school having to close, that evidence "should be from an independent third party (such as a Local Authority fire safety officer)". The DfE expects formal notice of closure or potential closure "to come from relevant bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive or the Fire Service". A closure warning written into the condition report is not enough on its own, and the DfE says statements from the headteacher or site manager are not acceptable evidence of actual or potential closure.

If closure is a real and immediate risk, a CIF bid may not be the right route. Schools eligible for CIF "can apply for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) at any time of the year where there are urgent condition issues that threaten the closure of the whole school, or a significant part of it". See the DfE's urgent capital support page. The DfE says that where UCS applications are received between October 2026 and April 2027, if they are duplicates of any successful CIF 2027-28 application, then the CIF application will be withdrawn if the UCS application is successful.

Urgency. "If the proposed works are not required to be carried out within the next two years, it is unlikely that the application will be successful."

Each supporting document, for project need, project planning and project cost, is limited to 50 pages, with text no smaller than Arial 11. "Any information provided over 50 pages will be disregarded and will not form part of your application."

Scoping a fire safety bid so the DfE does not have to rescope it

The DfE "will not fund part of the proposed works within an application, unless we require the project to be rescoped". If that happens, the application is placed on hold. It may also "reduce the scope of any project, amend the works to be funded, or require a project to be rescoped before funding is approved as it deems appropriate." A bid that needs rescoping has already lost time, and may lose funding.

The way to avoid it is a scope that matches the evidence item for item. Every door, detector and section of fire stopping in the cost plan should trace back to the survey or the specialist report. The DfE says "All evidence must only relate to the specific condition need in scope", and the reverse holds too: the scope should not run beyond what the evidence supports.

The guidance is also clear about how works should be packaged. Splitting what is really one project, such as two bids for similar work in the same block, "may lead to duplication, reduced value for money, and missed opportunities for streamlined delivery". Bundling unrelated works together may cost points under project planning. The test it gives is that "Applications should be structured in a way that reflects how the works would ordinarily be procured and delivered in practice."

Fire stopping carries a particular risk. Gaps in compartmentation are often hidden above ceilings, and opening up those voids in older buildings can reveal more work, or asbestos. The guidance gives asbestos removal as an example of an abnormal cost, and to score well on overall costs, "where there are 'abnormals' or high costs, they are clearly justified." Contingency "must not fund increased scope without an approved Scope Change Request". Investigating before the bid, rather than after approval, keeps the scope and the cost honest.

The costed options appraisal should show genuine alternatives: repairing or upgrading existing doorsets against replacing them, or treating one block now and another later. Phasing the work around school terms belongs in the delivery plan.

Where fire safety works form part of a wider refurbishment, the practice's guide to choosing an architect for a school capital project sets out what to check before appointing one.

Fire safety works that the RPA may cover

This round makes the order explicit. "Any insured works that are covered by Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) must be pursued by RPA in the first instance." Where a successful CIF application relates to works that are the subject of an ongoing RPA claim, "the application will be placed on hold until the outcome of the RPA claim has been determined."

The distinction is usually between damage and condition. A fire alarm that has reached the end of its life is a condition issue. Fire doors or alarm panels damaged in an incident, a fire or a flood may be an insurance matter. If there is any doubt, raise the claim with the RPA first and say so in the bid. For PFI schools, the guidance says CIF can apply only where "the condition issue is not already covered by warranties, insurance or contractual agreements".

The DfE's Condition Improvement Fund guidance is the starting point for the rules of the round.

Related guides

• CIF 2027 to 2028: key dates, rule changes and what to prepare by 15 December

• The CIF application for 2027 to 2028: a section-by-section walkthrough

• CIF for heating, boilers and electrics: building the case in 2027 to 2028

• Asbestos, RAAC and CIF 2027 to 2028: what the fund will and will not pay for

Grayling Thomas Architects on CIF fire safety and compliance bids

We are a RIBA Chartered Practice that designs and delivers school buildings. Grayling Thomas Architects was CIF bid writer, lead consultant and architect for Dorothy Goodman School in Hinckley, a new building for an existing special school, funded through the Condition Improvement Fund.

On fire safety and compliance projects we act as lead consultant and architect, working with the school to prepare the evidence of need, the design and scope, and the costed options, and then leading the design and delivery of the works. The DfE says "Surveys must also be from an independent source", and a survey will not be considered independent if, for example, it is carried out by a firm that has also quoted or tendered for the work. It also says "Should a conflict of interest be identified to exist between the technical adviser and others involved in your application, this may result in the application being disqualified." If the same firm carries out the condition survey and acts as your technical adviser, check that it has not quoted or tendered for the works, and declare the arrangement: the DfE says "You must declare any potential or perceived conflicts of interest in the application form, so that they can be considered as part of the assessment." The practice also carries out school condition surveys and other education surveys. Our CIF funding page explains how we work on CIF projects. Any appointment needs to follow your own procurement process, so it is worth starting early. To talk about a fire safety or compliance project, use our CIF enquiry form.