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Analysis of factors affecting value for money in UK PFI projects

Christian Henjewele (Construction and Property Research Centre, Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK)
Ming Sun (Construction and Property Research Centre, Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK)
Peter Fewings (Construction and Property Research Centre, Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK)

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction

ISSN: 1366-4387

Article publication date: 13 April 2012

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report findings from a study on factors that made value for money (VFM) in private finance initiative (PFI) projects vulnerable to variations. It seeks to identify the top influencing factors, rank them according to the relative strength of influence, and explore their interactivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a documentary review of full business cases of five PFI projects, published reports, and scholarly publications to identify the list of factors; and a questionnaire survey of 44 PFI projects in the UK to establish the ranking of importance.

Findings

The findings reveal that PFI projects are more strongly affected by client‐driven internal factors than external factors. Internal factors, such as design change in the development phase and requests for new works or services in the operational phase were also likely to act independently, while external factors, including conditions for approval, movement in construction costs and change in PFI guidelines, worked interactively.

Practical implications

The research findings add to the knowledge of priority factors that need to be addressed to enhance the achievement of long‐term VFM in PFI projects.

Originality/value

The study is one of the few studies that have investigated VFM of PFI projects from a whole life cycle and dynamic perspective. It reveals not only a list of main influencing factors of project VFM, but also interrelationship between these factors.

Keywords

Citation

Henjewele, C., Sun, M. and Fewings, P. (2012), "Analysis of factors affecting value for money in UK PFI projects", Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 9-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/13664381211211028

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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