The State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF) are part of the Florida Building Code. SREF requirements apply to construction, renovation, and remodeling of public educational facilities owned by district school boards and Florida College System boards of trustees. This review focused on K-12 public school construction.
We did not identify a compelling reason to eliminate the SREF. The vast majority of school districts (55) believe that the SREF provides value and should be retained.
Twenty-six districts recommended modifications to specific SREF requirements that they believed would reduce construction costs without affecting student safety, although there was little consensus among the districts concerning which requirements to modify and how to do so. After evaluating the recommendations, we identified 10 that the Legislature may wish to consider. However, these modifications would result in minimal cost savings and each has potential drawbacks.
In addition, several districts expressed concern about the requirement that districts pay for upgrades necessary to have schools function as community emergency shelters and about the appropriateness of current space standards for educational facilities.

Charter School Funding
Report 22-11 December 2022
Special Facility Construction Projects Appear Needed, but Have Excess Capacity
Report 11-02 January 2011
More State Direction Could Increase the Utilization of Higher Education Classrooms
Report 09-25 April 2009
School Districts Are Reducing Class Size in Several Ways; May Be Able to Reduce Costs
Report 07-29 May 2007

Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.