The majority of the Department of Education & Youth’s capital building projects are devolved to individual school authorities for delivery. Fees for conducting tendering processes forms part of overall fees paid to Design Teams by the school authorities for their work on school building projects. In that context, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the amount that has been spent in conducting the tendering process associated within its school building programme in each of the years listed. The Planning & Building Unit does however set down in its Design Team Procedures the total percentage of fees that design team may charge in relation to carrying out their duties for stage 3 tender process. This is set at 4% of total respective fixed fee for Architects, Civil & Structural Engineers and Mechanical & Electrical Engineers. This rises to 5% in the case of Quantity Surveyors and PSDP. This stage fees cover all aspect of the tendering process including publication, managing of queries, tender evaluations, post tender clarifications and managing of the contract award process leading to the appointment of works contractors and reserved specialists.