News

RIBA Launches Smart PFI Position Paper

14th December 2006

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today launched a position paper detailing its PFI procurement model - the Client Concept Design Model - and a number of firm recommendations following the Smart PFI principles.

The RIBA’s Smart PFI position paper sets out a step-by-step guide to the proposed design model, following support for Smart PFI from the Treasury, Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and CIC. The Client Concept Design Model results from a prolonged and intense period of consultation, taking in views from across the public and private sectors and Government.

The Client Concept Design Model seeks to address the problems the RIBA and its partners have identified in the PFI procurement and design process:

* Excessive cost and time necessary to bid for PFI

* Inadequate resourcing of the public sector client at the early stages of procurement – The Strategic and Outline Business Case stages - to allow adequate option appraisal -including site and location appraisal- and strategic brief development

* Untested and/or poorly tested project briefs prematurely put to the PFI market

* A lack of experience within the public sector clients, many of which were first time commissioners of buildings

* Insufficient direct contact between the client and the design team during the bid stages to allow good briefmaking and a robust design to emerge with adequate stakeholder consultation

Together, these interrelated factors result in reduced value for money, excessive costs, barriers to competition, delays to delivery and lower design quality. The RIBA has sought to address these issues and has now developed a model that will achieve this.

The RIBA believes applying the principles of Smart PFI would be to the benefit of all parties involved in PFI projects, both on the client and the supply sides. These proposals are not limited to single PFI projects and may be extended to selection processes in Public Private Partnerships such as Building Schools for the Future and LIFT.

The RIBA’s Smart PFI programme has been an ongoing campaign, championed by RIBA President Jack Pringle, to introduce improved design and procurement of major PFI projects. This has formed the first comprehensive review of PFI since the procurement initiative began nearly 15 years ago.

In the position paper, the RIBA has called on:

The Treasury to increase the funding available to the public client at the initial, preparatory stages of procurement sufficient to enable proper option appraisals, the preparation of a well developed brief, a client concept design and a robust budget

Central and Local Government to increase availability and capacity of design and other professional skills for the public sector, and to seek more effective ways of applying the skills and expertise, such as RIBA Client Design Advisors, that already exist

Professional bodies to encourage the acquisition of cross-professional skills that reflect the changing reality of PFI design, procurement and construction

The Treasury to reflect new and emerging best practice, including the principles of Smart PFI, in its anticipated review of Technical Note No 7

Speaking about the RIBA’s proposals, Jack Pringle, President of the RIBA said: “PFI and its derivatives remain key government procurement methods. We believe that the ‘Client Concept Design Model’ builds on the successes of the past while addressing the fundamental problems of traditional PFI procurement that have often led to poor briefs, high bid costs and, critically, a poor level of design quality. These issues have been tackled head on, and we are pleased that our proposals have found so much support over the last year.

“We have listened to the views of the wider industry and believe that we have come up with a viable and workable solution. This is not inherently new. Instead it has distilled the very best of the innovative and successful developments of the past few years, in both the public and private sector and seeks to address the very real problems of PFI in a constructive, considered and practical way.

“We believe that this is a major step forward for school and hospital developments and other forms of PFI projects. We have been delighted with the response we have received from both the Treasury and OGC. We now look forward to receiving the Green Book Supplement in 2007 and working with the Treasury to make real their commitment to developing improved guidance to ensure great design and best value in future PFI projects.”

The full Smart PFI position paper, detailing the Client Concept Design Model, can be downloaded from www.architecture.com