Commercial Education, Healthcare and Social Assistance

There are several commercial property types that fall under this general category. Including, but not limited to:

  • Childcare Centres
  • Primary & Secondary schools
  • Universities
  • TAFE
  • Retirement homes
  • Seniors Retreats
  • Doctors & Dentists
  • Vets and Other Healthcare professionals
Case Study - Child Care Centre, Epping NSW

There are a lot of nuances within all of the above types, but they can broadly be grouped into the three categories below.

Education Providers

Most educational institutions have large land areas with large open spaces. Because of this, education industry depreciation reports tend to have a higher disparity between the purchase price and the overall depreciation deductions than other industries. With land being a non-depreciable component, that minimises the potential deductions. However, the deductions can still be high due to the prevalence of some assets that have extremely high individual values.
Due to having some specialist services and usually being multi-levelled, education providers can find their construction costs between $1,750 and $2,500 as a general rule. The most common depreciable assets for education providers are:
- HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning)
- Lifts
- Floor Coverings
- Lighting Systems
- Fire Control Assets

Healthcare (Hospitals, Doctors & GP’s, Dentists, Veterinarians)

Compared to education providers, healthcare tends to have a lower value of land compared to the overall purchase price, which is beneficial for depreciation deductions. Structurally speaking, most healthcare buildings have a construction cost range between $2,000 and $3,200 as a general rule, with larger hospitals dropping slightly due to having many large open areas and rooms that have minimal services such as plumbing or gas. Some of the typical high value depreciable assets include:
- Autoclaves
- Centrifuges
- Medical cabinets
- Lighting Systems
- HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning)
- Patient monitoring assets
- Ultrasound and CAT scan machines
- Surgical instruments

Social Assistance (Retirement homes, Seniors retreats and Disability support)
Social Assistance properties provide similar deductions to general accommodation providers, with the addition of simple monitoring assets and on-site healthcare assets. As there are no advanced services connected to the structure, social assistance usually sees building costs between $1,400 to $2,000 per square metre. Some of the specific depreciable assets include:
- Patient monitoring assets
- CCTV
- Security
- HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning)
- Furniture including beds, chairs, linen and TV’s
- Floor Coverings
- Hoists

A Quantity Surveyor should be able to answer all of your detailed questions and will ensure that no items are missed, the maximum claim is made and that the report complies with the ever changing rules prescribed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

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