2 An area is unavailable if it fails to meet certain pre-agreed criteria and is not used for its intended purpose. The criteria cover such aspects of performance as: compliance with legal and health and safety requirements; access to the facilities; the condition of the buildings; the level of lighting; and the provision of utilities. If an area is unavailable, a deduction will be made to the fee payable to Defence Management unless the area concerned is still used by the Department or Defence Management is able to offer suitable alternative accommodation.
3 Defence Management is allowed a certain period to rectify the availability before the deduction is made. The size of this period varies from 30 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the importance of the area of the facilities involved. For certain of the more important areas (such as the lecture theatres and main dining room), the 30 minute period of grace falls to zero on days when key events are being held. The size of the deduction also varies, depending on the importance of the affected area.
4 The maximum deduction possible is 97 per cent of the total fee since deductions for unavailability and poor service performance cannot total more than 100 per cent of the total fee and a maximum of 3 per cent of the fee is at risk from poor service provision (see below). For the 97 per cent deduction to occur, all of the facilities (College, residential accommodation and married quarters) would have to be unavailable.