There was a theme from some service providers in management positions that they either felt like tenants or were described as such by the on-site FM operator and sometimes even by their agency's contract manager. Some felt such a description was used to imply restrictive, low power and negative connotations. Perhaps this description was used to explain the rationale of unfamiliar "dos and don'ts" being imposed upon service providers new to the PPP model. Moreover, this sense of being a tenant was exacerbated in service providers who were involved in planning and developing designs of the PPP facility (by comparison service providers are normally represented in traditional procurement of projects).
The authors believe that having this sense of being a tenant, either by the service providers or by the on-site FM operator, has a negative impact of connecting the service providers of the PPP facility (see Section 3.5). The authors also believe this description of service providers as tenants is incorrect.
Service providers are not working in a PPP facility because the government cannot afford to "buy" such a facility (the common community sentiment of why people become tenants). Indeed, the government has the funds to 'buy' the PPP contract which provides a full service that does not, by all accounts, cut corners. The government, unlike tenants generally, have the resources and decision-making flexibility to decide, usually after much consultation and developing business cases, on whether to proceed with the PPP model. The government calls for tender and produces the terms and conditions under which it is prepared to proceed with the PPP project.
If service providers are made to feel, in a negative sense, that they are tenants, then this is incorrectly and unnecessarily imposed on them. It may be useful for Treasury or the service department to articulate the context and strategic nature of the service provider role in the PPP model (see also Section 3.7.) Similarly, it would be beneficial for the FM operator to explain the PPP model to its on-site FM operators and its role in servicing service providers.