Issues
DESIGN
Good design is not just about aesthetics; it is also concerned with the effectiveness and efficiency of a building over its whole life. By ensuring that those who use and work in public buildings gain real value from them, better building design can make a major contribution to improving public services.
Below are key points relating to some of the design aspects of PFI.
- Sound, creative design is an essential ingredient to achieving value for money in PFI construction. HM Treasury and the National Audit Office strongly support the evidence that good design helps generate value to the taxpayer.
- In the past the overall quality of buildings procured by the public sector has often been very poor with the buildings being of variable design quality. Projects were regularly delivered over-budget, late and often with defects. Now that the contractor is responsible for maintenance of up to 30 years, it is in their interest to ensure quality over the long-term.
- Design is not purely a question of style and taste but also an adherence to core principles such as:
- Functionality in use
- Build quality
- Efficiency and sustainability
- Designing in context
- PFI contractors remain committed to the Design Quality Indicators (DQI) guidelines, set out by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).
- Through PFI, better value for money than other procurement methods is ensured by:
- Focusing on whole life costing
- Fully integrated and up-front design and construction costs
- Ongoing service delivery
- Operational maintenance and refurbishment costs
- Wider opportunity and incentives for innovative solutions for how service requirements can be delivered.
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 Issue Paper 4 - Design
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