At OBC stage NHS bodies are expected to consider and assess the viability of a project for PPP. On occasions the outcome of the assessment may be borderline or the project itself may have some unusual features which lead to choices on how the project could be procured e.g. significant level of refurbishment, opportunity to include additional elements and so on. In these circumstances it may be useful to conduct an informal sounding of the prospective PPP bidding market to achieve some or all of the following objectives:
1. Obtain a clearer picture on whether the project is likely to be attractive.
2. Identify ways to enhance its attractiveness.
3. Identify factors to avoid which may reduce its attractiveness.
This section offers some guidance on how such an informal market sounding exercise may be undertaken.