1.4 The construction and design companies in a PFI consortium have an incentive to work together at an early stage of the bidding process to decide the best way to deliver the required service over the contract life.
Historically under traditional procurement, the design and construction elements tended to be undertaken separately. This often led to problems in implementing the design during the construction phase, which meant that the design had to be revisited, leading to many variations to the asset design. There were often increased costs and delays as the different companies attempted to resolve the problems.
1.5 By integrating the design and construction elements, bidders are encouraged to take a longer term view of the design of the asset. For example, by designing and building the asset to a standard that will reduce maintenance costs throughout the contract period the consortium can reduce its long term costs while ensuring that it meets the department's service requirements.
1.6 Consortium members know they are in a long term relationship with each other. This relationship encourages the consortium members to work together as failures by any consortium member would have to be dealt with to avoid any reduction in the rate of return for the consortium as a whole. As a result, there tends to be greater co-operation between the design and construction companies than has sometimes historically been the case under traditional procurement.