Auditor-general warns of serious safety risks from school air conditioners

Auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the installation of air conditioners in public schools, warning of serious risks to public health and saying required implementation stages had been bypassed with the knowledge of the education ministry. In four of the five schools visited by the Audit Office on September 24, which were among those where the education ministry said installation works had been completed, basic works were still outstanding. “We found air conditioners installed for almost two years but not connected, others operating alternately to avoid overloading, makeshift electrical connections and an electrical panel with its safety device removed,” Papaconstantinou said. “We were also informed of a case where a circuit breaker tripped and was reset seven times on the same day,” he added. Papaconstantinou said this situation “undoubtedly results from the bypassing of the prescribed implementation stages, with the knowledge of the education ministry”, adding that air conditioners had been put into operation without prior inspection and certification of the electrical installation and without the final inspection and approval having been completed. “This practice carries risks of serious accidents, endangering the health and safety of children and teachers. In our view, the operation of such air conditioners should be stopped immediately until the prescribed procedure has been completed,” he said. Regarding the implementation of the project between 2023 and 2026, Papaconstantinou said the education ministry “was absent for most of the duration of the project, having chosen to assign the school boards to manage on their own a project for which they did not have the necessary expertise”. The ministry was only appointed central coordinator during the third phase. “The fragmentation, inadequate market research and restrictive participation criteria limited competition, with consequences for the implementation time and possibly prices,” he said. Papaconstantinou also highlighted the need for transparency. According to the auditor-general, the information provided by the ministry to the Audit Office during the audit “did not give a clear picture of the scope of the project [the number of schools] and the implementation timetable”. A detailed list containing all schools was only provided to the Audit Office after the audit had been completed “and, as it turned out, with serious errors”. The report said the fact that the ministry had not made this list public was also relevant, as pupils, parents and teachers were consequently unable to know the actual situation at each school. Publishing the list, it added, would also allow any inaccuracies in information regarding the project’s progress to be easily identified. Papaconstantinou said a difficult project “will inevitably encounter problems”, but what was required was proper planning, meaningful coordination and transparency. The education ministry, he said, “should immediately take corrective measures”. According to the report, the project initially involved the installation of air conditioners in 209 schools and was to be implemented in three phases. The project was assigned by the education ministry to the metropolitan school boards, which took responsibility for its implementation. However, the Audit Office said it did not appear that the project would be completed within its original timetable, by the end of 2026, after encountering various difficulties. It noted that it had recently been announced that the project would instead be completed by the end of 2028, with air conditioners installed in all schools. By July 2026, when the Audit Office completed its audit, work had been completed in 81 of 219 cases involving public schools included in the project, representing 37 per cent. Although the project covers 209 schools, there are 219 cases because work in 10 schools is to be carried out in two phases. Electrical works remained outstanding in 79 cases, air conditioner installation was under way in 52, six were awaiting inspection by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, while work had not begun at one school. A total of 5,165 air conditioners have been installed or are planned to be installed under the project, of which 1,278 are included in Phase A, 2,123 in Phase B and 1,764 in Phase C. Based on information provided to the Audit Office by the school boards, the project’s current cost had reached €9,819,430, excluding VAT, by July 2026. “Although the information we received shows that estimated expenditure was exceeded in several tenders, in several cases by high percentages, this overrun cannot be quantified because of the different format, content and reference dates of the information provided to us by the school boards,” the report said. It also noted that the concentration of all air conditioners among two manufacturers demonstrated the need to examine the factors that had led to this outcome, while stressing that this did not necessarily in itself constitute a restriction of competition. The report also found significant differences in the project’s progress between school boards. The highest completion rate was recorded by the Larnaca school board, where work had been completed in 19 of 22 schools, or 86 per cent. This was followed by the Paralimni-Dherynia school board, where work had been completed in 12 of 28 schools, or 43 per cent; Limassol, with 23 of 57 schools, or 40 per cent; Paphos, with nine of 23 schools, or 39 per cent; and Nicosia, with 18 of 89 schools, or 20 per cent. The report stressed that the percentages alone did not reflect the overall effort made by each school board, as different numbers of schools had been selected under the project’s three phases. The Audit Office made particular reference to serious risks arising from the bypassing of the legally prescribed procedure. “Regardless of the importance of the project and any pressure that may be exerted on the education ministry for its rapid implementation, under no circumstances is it justified, particularly with the knowledge of the ministry, for air conditioners to operate in schools without first having an Electrical Installation Suitability Certificate and without the prescribed final inspection procedure having been completed,” the report said. During its on-site inspection on September 24 at specific schools included on the ministry’s list as having completed works, the Audit Office said it had identified “serious violations” of the prescribed legal procedure. In four of the five schools inspected, basic works remained outstanding. More specifically, the Audit Office found air conditioners which had been installed for almost two years, meaning their warranty period was nearing expiry, but had not been connected. Other air conditioners were being operated alternately to prevent overloading, while makeshift electrical connections were exposed in plain sight. It also found an electrical panel where the safety locking mechanism on the door had been removed, allowing access to the panel without first isolating the electricity supply. Audit Office officials were also informed of a case in which a circuit breaker on an electrical panel had tripped and been reset seven times during the same day. The report stressed that these findings related to the schools visited by the Audit Office and could not be considered representative of all schools. Nevertheless, “the nature and seriousness of the findings make, in our view, the immediate taking of measures necessary”, it said. Regarding problems with the project’s implementation, the report also found limited competition in tenders for air-conditioning installers and electricians, tenders exceeding their estimated values and inconsistent application of procurement procedures by the different school boards. “The evidence indicates that the particularly high technical and professional requirements set by the education ministry as conditions for participation”, particularly in documents relating to the Dynamic Purchasing System for electricians, contributed to the limited number of participants and bids, the Audit Office said. “The preparation and market research which preceded [the tenders] did not ensure sufficient participation by economic operators. The criteria set were particularly high without being proportionate to the requirements of the project,” it added. During the audit, the education ministry and the Treasury took corrective action, including the creation of a new Dynamic Purchasing System for electrical installations of up to 150 kVA and the reconsideration of some participation criteria to allow increased participation. The report also said that in a letter sent by the education ministry to the Audit Office in October 2025 regarding the number of air conditioners which needed to be installed, no detailed project budget was provided by implementation phase, school board or type of expenditure. Among its recommendations, the Audit Office said the ministry should prepare a detailed project budget by type of expenditure, phase, district or school board, at least for the remaining stages or phases of the project. It said the same should be done in the event of another similar project being carried out for the remaining public schools requiring air-conditioning installation. The Audit Office also recommended that the ministry immediately inspect all schools where air conditioners have been installed or where installation is under way to identify any deviations from safety requirements and take immediate measures to ensure the safety of pupils, teachers, staff and school facilities. It also called on the ministry to update and publish the detailed progress list for the project so that it reflects the actual situation. Finally, the Audit Office recommended that the ministry take steps to speed up implementation procedures, based on the experience gained so far and the recommendations contained in the report, so that the project can, as far as possible, be completed within the established timetable.