Digital Tools for Capturing and Analyzing Structural Condition Data Before School Demolition

The Department for Education (DfE) is seeking scalable, cost-effective digital solutions to systematically capture and analyze structural condition data from school and college buildings immediately before demolition through the Schools Rebuilding Programme (SRP). This challenge addresses a critical gap: currently, there is no organized process to document the final structural condition of buildings being demolished, despite these representing valuable opportunities to understand defects, deterioration patterns, and structural risks across England's education estate of approximately 69,000 buildings. Buildings selected for demolition typically exhibit safety issues or severe structural defects, and the pre-demolition 'softstrip' process temporarily exposes normally concealed load-bearing structures, providing a unique window for data collection. Applicants should propose digital methodologies (discrete or complete solutions) to: (1) efficiently and safely capture structural condition data during the limited pre-demolition period, (2) interpret captured data using automated or technology-enabled approaches, and (3) analyze trends across different construction types and structural systems to identify common defect patterns and deterioration risks. Solutions must address structural materials commonly found in historic school buildings including structural steel, timber, reinforced concrete, and masonry, and should identify various deterioration types such as corrosion, cracking, water damage, and decay. Successful responses will demonstrate how data and analytical outputs integrate with DfE's Common Data Environment (CDE). Following the challenge, successful applicants may be invited to pilot solutions on live SRP sites during summer 2027, with potential for wider adoption across the several hundred buildings demolished annually from the education estate. Deadline for responses: Friday 4th December 2026.