The pfi method of procurement is also making big headways in the education sector. Education was an early mover into the private finance market and by 1995 most new-build projects in higher education were privately funded. Initial moves into pfi schemes ranged from full redevelopment to replacement of heating systems. The school sector has now joined the bandwagon, with projects in place throughout the country.

Consultant W S Atkins, for one, has made positive moves to gain contracts and encourage growth in the field. The company set up the New Schools Investment Program with venture capitalists Innisfree two years ago, after recognising the opportunities becoming available in this area through pfi. The program manages projects in which Atkins has an investment interest ie is part of the consortium.

New Schools grew out of the company's main pfi program which was already running projects in the healthcare and prison sectors. Managed from the company's Epsom office, projects are selected for bidding from the industry's OJEC tender notices.

Although the company has vast experience in traditional school projects, as Martin Stearman, director of New Schools says, "PFI is a different animal…people do similar things but often in different relationships. Atkins' consultants and architects are directly responsible to the main contractor, who takes on the design and build responsibility. It couldn't work any other way in pfi because the contractor must take responsibility for the design and life of the project."

Also different with pfi is the amount of legalities involved. "Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of legal fees" ensure all warranties; indemnities and guarantees are safely in place, necessary "because the banks are involved". Risk is controlled by this documentation and "transferred to the subcontractor".

"During the period of financial close the contractor completes the design sufficiently so every party knows exactly what will be built. All details are cross-referenced so that the builder knows what the facilities manager wants and facilities managers knows what will be built. At this stage it is also decided whether the specifications are appropriate and the facilities management team will accept the life-cycle risk associated with the products and equipment selected by the contractors." To minimise learning curves in this complicated-sounding process, the company tries to ensure that staff who have worked on previous pfi projects are employed on new schemes.

The first project to be carried out under the New Schools program is due to open for the next school year in September 2000. Penweddig Welsh Medium School in Aberystwyth, Wales will cater for 900 pupils. Built on brownfield land owned by the council, the consortium, of W S Atkins, Waites and Innisfree, has a licence to use it for a concession period of 30 years.

The construction programme was very fast, with the contract signed on 16 September 1999 after a five month period to close. The main contractor, Waites, was on-site within two weeks.

Possibly due to its scenic position it was designed "with a practical approach to environmental issues". In doing so, one of pfi's downsides may have inadvertently been uncovered. Although processes such as passive ventilation were included, the council initiative of a biomass generator fuelled by locally-grown softwood was rejected as "no-one wanted to put it in the pfi scheme". The boilerhouse has been designed so this can be incorporated later.

One further complexity is that the scheme requires the building to be kept within specific temperatures and air conditioning limits. As Stearman asks, "How can we do this when designing state-of-the-art passive ventilation which can take several months to tune? What's the effect of say, the introduction of an IT area, and the heat produced by that?" This is an area where specifications must be looked at carefully if advances in more environmentally-friendly services methods can be utilised.

Stearman describes the pfi process as "Not dissimilar to design and build but with the added edge that whole life is taken into account." Choices must be examined carefully and designed efficiently. The operator had a say in the materials selection and was provided with the necessary facilities to work and store on-site. With this long-term view, a maintenance and replacement regime will be set in place at the start of the concession period to a financial plan. When say a boiler reaches the end of its lifetime, it will not be a surprise and the funds to replace it will automatically be available.

Problems of the combination of pfi process, requirement for warranties, legal documentation and the OJEC procedures result in the bidding process being expensive. "If we can bring down these costs the savings can be converted into bricks and desks. The faster we can get to the preferred bidder stage the lower the cost will be to bidders. If anything, what we all want to do is get to standard issue of legal documents and get the legal authorities to accept they know what they're getting."

The short five-month period from bidding to financial close on this project is one indication that this is changing. "PFI is fundamentally about deliverability against a promise. The OJEC process puts the pain into it. What made pfi horrendous was the complete change of how we look at procedures."

Stearman's only regret on this project was having " to do a bid in 11-13 weeks, which is very little time to get to grips with the clients needs. The traditional approach is to spend a long time sitting with the head teacher working through details; the thing that changes it is the relationships. You must be able to demonstrate that you can produce detailed drawings; there is no time or resources to provide a complete set of drawings prior to bidding…Do enough to get the price right and demonstrate to the client that it will work. To be efficient in the bid process you must be capable of thinking in a conceptual way, but know that it will work when done. The focus of responsibility falls on a few people, that let's the process move fast."