4.34 For the 35 projects sampled, procurement times ranged from 14 months to five years, with an average duration of two and half years. Subsequent interviews with ten project managers found that the duration of the procurement for all ten projects was longer than expected and, in many cases, considerably so. The periods ranged from just two months longer to a delay of four years in one case.
4.35 The two most prevalent reasons for delay, certainly once the PFI procurement had started, were: first, issues related to the availability of the appropriate sites (for example, acquisition, title, town planning); and second, protracted contractual negotiations once the preferred PFI partner had been selected.
4.36 Whilst PFI's record of performance has been similarly good for major schemes and for projects with a capital value of less than £20 million, there is however also evidence that smaller projects face a number of difficulties that need to be addressed to ensure that this success is not obtained at disproportionate cost.