Note

Please read the note below before using this Model Documentation

Disclaimer

This Worksheet has been produced by the Local Partnerships (formerly 4ps), HCA and CLG in consultation with Pinsent Masons (legal advisors) and Gleeds (technical advisors) (together, the 'Advisors') to provide assistance to Local Authorities in the procurement of Housing projects through the Private Finance Initiative. The Worksheet has been published in good faith by the Local Partnerships, HCA and CLG with the help of its Advisors, and neither the Local Partnerships, HCA, CLG nor its Advisors shall incur any liability for any action or omission arising out of any reliance being placed on the Worksheet by any Local Authority or organisation or other person. Any Local Authority or organisation or other person in receipt of this Worksheet should take their own legal, financial and other relevant professional advice when considering what action (if any) to take in respect of any initiative, proposal, or other involvement with any public private partnership, or before placing any reliance on anything contained therein.

General Notes to Output Specification

Authorities using this template output specification should note the following:

• Any text in italics within this document is intended as guidance for Authorities in using this document to reflect the characteristics of their individual scheme. This should be reviewed and ultimately deleted by the Authority prior to issue. At present this document caters for both refurbishment and new build general needs schemes and, to the extent that one of these aspects does not feature, the text should be deleted.

• This document has been developed to address the issues generic to both HRA and non-HRA General Needs schemes. A separate version is available for Extra Care projects.

• The overall document is reflective of an HRA scheme. Where appropriate, footnotes are used to indicate where standards may be removed/altered/relaxed to reflect the different risk profile on a non-HRA scheme where the Contractor has other incentives for performance (including ownership and rental income).

• Attention is drawn to the footnotes throughout this document, which generally identify where individual projects need to review the template in light of their individual projects. In particular, some of these footnotes identify considerations Authorities should make to ensure their scheme offers value for money.

• This document has sought to use defined terms consistent with good practice across the sector and in accordance with the Draft Project Agreement and Draft Payment Mechanism included within the 4ps Housing Procurement Pack, however these should be reviewed to ensure they are consistent with any changes to defined terms or their meanings that may be made on an individual project basis.

• It is intended that this Output Specification can be included within the Project Agreement unamended, as it has been drafted to ensure standards are always identifiable and measurable. The exception to this is section 2, which includes design aspirations for the Bidders design teams to follow. This section is intended to fall away, with the responses to it captured in the Contractors Proposals.

• This document primarily covers new build and existing general needs housing stock. Some further guidance is included throughout this document for Authorities that are also considering the inclusion of non-housing facilities, for example community centres or local play facilities.