This research proposes the use of indicators in public architectural and engineering projects as a means of communication between users, maintenance technicians, works supervisors, and designers, from the perspective of improving the conditions of public buildings. The central question is the understanding of how a system of analytical indicators can stimulate agents of the municipal administration to work in the continuous improvement of school projects. Therefore, it was considered that the user demands and the analysis of maintenance technicians and construction inspectors can provide relevant information to designers. The proposed overall project performance model covers three dimensions related to the lifespan of the construction from the user s point of view; the aspects that facilitate building maintenance services according to the perception of the technicians; and the quality of the project from the construction inspector s point of view. The empirical field for the study are two schools in a municipality located in the middle of Paraíba in the State of Rio de Janeiro where it is possible to infer that the functionality and conservation of one of the buildings has greater impairment in its lifespan, due to deficiencies in facilities and the dimension of the ceiling height, while the other building evaluated had more problems in the dimension of supervision of works due to insufficient specifications of materials and facilities. The standardization of equipment, the specifications of mortars and wall coverings are other variables evaluated that differentiate the results of the design performance indexes among the schools visited.