3.5.1 A lot of technical expertise and PFI experience is also available to procurers from surveyors, engineers, architects, contractors, project managers, actuaries and many other technical professions. The size, experience and capability of these firms can vary. As discussed earlier, some of the larger firms are now looking to offer a broader PFI service beyond traditional "technical" boundaries.
3.5.2 Again, it is vital that the procurer is clear about precisely what technical advice is required, particularly over and above the skills that may exist in-house or be available under the auspices of the financial adviser. Specific technical advice may be of particular use, for example, in the following areas:
• Assisting the user to define an output specification for the physical asset, and services to be provided under the proposed agreement;
• technical assumptions to be used in business cases or investment appraisals, including public sector comparators;
• drafting technical aspects of Invitations to Tender/Negotiate;
• technical evaluation of proposals and bids, including capability of contractors;
• quality assurance during the construction phase together with arrangements for sampling contractor compliance,
• technical aspects of risk assessment, including the weighting and quantification of individual risks;
• valuing assets that may be sold or transferred as part of a PFI transaction;
• technical aspects of facilities management, including the development of appropriate payment mechanisms and the monitoring and measuring of
• service delivery and performance;
• actuarial issues, particularly where transfers of staff from the public sector to the private sector have pension implications; and
• IT and business process re-engineering.
Example of an Inappropriate Technical Advisory Role
A Government Agency recruited IT consultants to advise on a PFI project. The individuals were expert in the technical IT issues involved and provided extremely useful advice. However, following this success, they were asked to help with other work and went on to produce contract drafts and build models for financial evaluation. Much of what was produced on the legal and financial side had to be redone at considerable extra cost as the lack of specific expertise soon became apparent. The role of advisers should be contained within the scope of their brief. Expertise in one area is not confirmation of expertise elsewhere.