Warden Dr Neil Rodgers said the scaffolding was being put up so work could begin as soon as the last students left following the end of exams next month.
The work was expected to be finished by February, when students return, and like the $12.1 million earthquake-strengthening and extension completed at Knox College this year, it would be a race against time, Dr Rodgers said.
Selwyn College, which is Dunedin's oldest university college, is a University of Otago ''affiliated'' college owned by the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin.
The need for earthquake strengthening work on the college's Whitehead building on Castle St became apparent after an earthquake assessment, required by the university, carried out late last year found it was about 37% of new building standard, Dr Rodgers said. The Whitehead building, which was the only building found to be earthquake-prone, housed about 50 of the college's 172 residents.
After it became apparent how extensive strengthening work would be, it was decided to upgrade the facilities, meaning all bedrooms would be redone, fire safety standards improved and new electronics installed.
''We decided that we would seize the bull by the horns and so in addition to the seismic strengthening we are also doing a complete upgrade of the building.''
The height of the ceiling pitch also meant it was possible to put in an additional 10 dorm-style rooms, increasing the college's capacity from 172 to 182.
''We have also spent a little bit more than we needed on outfit . . . because we wanted to keep a college look, rather than get a motel look.''
The work would be funded by a loan from the Otago University, a commercial loan and by savings.
The fact the college ran a ''very tight ship'' meant it was still expecting to run small surpluses over the next few years, even when accounting for loan repayments. It would not be forced to cut jobs, as was the case at Knox.
Once the earthquake assessment was completed, there was never a question of whether work would be done on the building.
''The only question was timing.''
Arrow International had been chosen as the project manager for the works, due to its success in completing strengthening work at Knox in a similarly short time frame.
It would finish putting up scaffolding by the start of exams.
''The scaffolding looks quite impressive. If you look at the height of the scaffolding above the roof, it looks like they are building the Crystal Palace, but what they are going to do is put a cover or a tent on top of it, because the roof needs to be replaced.''
