Treasury procurement agency the Office for Government Commerce has launched a system of reviewing government construction projects that it says will shave 5% off costs.
The Gateway Review comprises five project checking stages, including justifying the business case, approving a procurement method and approving the contract.
About 65 construction projects are set to go through the system in the next year.
Peter Gershon, chief executive of the OGC, said the system would prevent procurement disasters such as the Jubilee Line Extension.
He said: "Historically, there has been wide variability on outcomes, with too many projects being late, over budget and not generating the planned level of benefits." The gateway will not cover school or hospital schemes but Gershon said there were talks under way with other government departments to import the techniques into their operations.
