Apart from the PSC, the following other value-for-money factors identified in the Partnerships Victoria guidelines were examined during the bid evaluation:
• Risk transfer-risk allocation was carefully considered during the development of the PSC. (A detailed breakdown of risk allocations for this PPP is contained at Appendix A.)
• Whole-of-life costing-full integration of up-front design and construction costs with ongoing service delivery, operational, maintenance and refurbishment costs was incorporated into the PSC.
• Innovation-the project company's proposal incorporated a high quality engineering solution for the hospital that will facilitate future operational changes and includes an innovative ecologically sustainable development solution involving 100 per cent fresh air ventilation in patient rooms. This design provides an innovative approach which will have both energy and infection control benefits for the facility.
• Asset utilisation-the gross floor area and gross departmental area of the project company design is significantly greater than that of the reference project that informed the PSC. 2
2 Partnerships Victoria Guidance Material Practitioners Guide, page 6.