Abstract The paper describes the development of a POE (post occupancy evaluation) programme for evaluating government buildings in New Zealand. The programme is being developed by a research team at the School of Architecture, VUW (Victoria University of Wellington), under a research contract from the New Zealand MWD (Ministry of Works and Development). The aim of the programme is to enable MWD and its client departments to assess the effectiveness of their buildings and of their delivery, operations and maintenance processes as part of their inhouse activities. The MWD regard the programme as a long term commitment. The VUW research team has therefore concerned itself with developing a flexible programme incorporating a robust evaluation process which can be used by non-expert personnel (in terms of POE experience) on a wide range of buildings. Such an evaluation process is now proposed and its initial testing is complete. This paper outlines that process and discusses the current status of the POE programme.