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Know the asset's condition and your exposure before the contract ends

When a PFI contract expires, the asset, its records and whatever remains of the provider's obligations return to the public body, and what comes back is largely settled years before the expiry date. We help authorities build an evidenced picture of condition, obligations and information gaps, starting from what is already on the public record, so that the right requirements reach the provider while the contract still gives room to act.

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Aerial view of a large NHS hospital campus

What returns at expiry is decided long before the date

Condition, obligations, information and money all need to be in order on the day the contract ends, and that takes years to arrange.

Most handback plans start and end with the building. In practice the physical asset is one of eight things an authority has to get right, alongside information, the contract, money, people, process, stakeholders and the service that follows. A gap in any of them becomes exposure: a component with little remaining life at expiry, a statutory safety record that cannot be found, or a service with no one ready to run it on the first day.

The volume of expiries makes this pressing. Across the national catalogue behind our worked example, 299 contracts on the government's register expire between 2032 and 2037, with a peak of 65 in 2036.

Why it is difficult

By the time a problem is visible, the options have usually narrowed to whatever the contract already says.

Expiry initiation7 to 5 years outSet up the expiry team, start joint planning with the provider and commission an early condition survey
Planning and decisions5 to 3 years outAgree the handback position, contract interpretations and the future service route
Delivering the handbackFinal 3 yearsFinal survey, rectification, data and staff transfer, and the handover itself
Expiry
Authority's leverage over the providerFalls away towards expiry
Indicative phasing from IPA guidance, Preparing for PFI contract expiry (2022). The leverage band is schematic.
A long runway with early decisionsGovernment guidance recommends starting expiry planning at least seven years before the contract ends. It sets out indicative phases: expiry initiation at seven to five years out, planning and decision-making at five to three, and delivering the handback in the final three years (Infrastructure and Projects Authority, Preparing for PFI contract expiry, 2022). Some choices close well before the final years.
Reports are not recordsA monthly performance report is a summary. The evidence sits underneath it, in the operational records. Asking for the report gets an assertion; asking for the record gets the proof.
Knowledge is spread widelyContract and asset records are often incomplete. Much of what an authority needs sits with the provider, with third parties, in people's memories or on the public record.
Incentives change over timeEarly in the runway the provider still has years of payments to protect. As expiry approaches, that leverage falls away and requests become harder to enforce.

How we approach it

We work alongside the authority's own team, its advisers and its surveyors, building up the picture in a set order.

  1. GatherCollect what is already published about the asset before the provider is asked for anything: planning files, contract releases, energy certificates, committee papers and national LiDAR.
  2. ExtractRead the contract for the handback requirements, the obligations that run to expiry and the dates by which each must be met.
  3. Measure and modelTurn drawings and records into a model of the asset and its components, with quantities and known condition history.
  4. AskSet out targeted requests for the operational records that should exist, so the first requests sent are the right ones.
  5. VerifyHelp scope the condition survey against a known component list, then record what it finds against the contract position.

Each item carries an evidence level, from public baseline up to verified on site, so the picture is honest about its limits. The method stays the same across asset types, though what we build changes with the asset.

What the work involves

Which of these pieces are needed, and in what depth, depends on the asset, the state of the records and the time left.

Public-record baseline, firstA picture of the asset from published records, compiled before the provider is asked for anything. It shows which questions to ask first and which answers to check.
Asset model and atlasAsset records turned into a georeferenced model with condition history and quantities, room by room where the drawings allow. A network such as street lighting is better served by a reconstructed GIS asset register, so that is what we build there.
Handback schedule and gapEach component's remaining life at expiry, set against the handback requirement and valued.
Runway plan and evidence logEach information item and risk given a latest decision point on the runway and an evidence level, so it is clear which choices close first.

Where the information is

  • Already public: planning files, contract releases, energy certificates, committee papers and national LiDAR.
  • What the provider should hand over: fire, water and gas safety logbooks, electrical and lift inspections, defect and warranty records.
  • What exists only once someone pays for it: independent condition surveys, tests and assessments.

What an authority gets from it

What an authority can expect to end up with depends on the contract, the records available and how far it is from expiry.

Know what is already knownWhat the public record shows about the asset, what it does not, and which gaps matter most.
Know which decisions close firstEach information item and risk placed on the runway, with the latest point at which it can still be acted on.
Ask the provider preciselyRequests for specific records, set against what the contract requires.
Decide on surveys with a component listCondition surveys scoped against what the asset contains, so their findings can be recorded against the handback requirement.

The research behind it

The method has been tested on four asset types so far: education, health, waste and street lighting.

Research

PFI handbacks, de-risked

Developed in collaboration with A7Consult Limited, the PFI handbacks worked example rebuilt four PFI contracts using only published records: a school campus, an acute hospital, an energy-from-waste plant and a county street lighting network. The buildings became georeferenced component models; the lighting network became a rebuilt asset register.

Each model records what the public record shows, what it does not, and the questions to put at handback, with each element tagged by how it is known. The work also includes a national catalogue of 720 PFI and PF2 projects and a process baseline that sets the published expiry guidance on a single chart.

The services and software behind it

The core of the work is strategic and operational advisory on what to require of the provider, in what order and by when. Systems modelling and simulation turns the records into an asset model that can be tested and updated. Data, integration and implementation brings information together from where it is held, including the authority's existing systems, without asking anyone to replace them.

Playground dashboard shown with sample data
Shown with sample data
In developmentPlaygroundIntended to hold the asset model as a live record after the engagement, once available.Optional: use it with our services, on its own, or not at all.

Common questions

If yours is not here, ask us directly.

When should we start preparing for handback?

Earlier than most authorities do. Published guidance recommends starting at least seven years before expiry, with expiry initiation between seven and five years out. Giving each information item and risk a latest decision point on that runway shows which choices close first. By two years out, options tend to narrow to what the contract already says.

We can't find the full contract or asset records. Can you still help?

Yes. A useful baseline can be built from the public record before the provider is asked for anything. It will not answer every question, but it shows which to ask first and which answers to check.

Which kinds of PFI asset does this cover?

The method has been tested on education, health, waste and street lighting. Buildings get a georeferenced component model, room by room where the drawings allow. Networks are better served by a reconstructed GIS asset register. The sequence stays the same: gather, extract, measure, model, then ask.

Does this replace the condition survey or the NISTA document stocktake?

No. It helps both go further. The stocktake reaches documents the provider holds, and the survey verifies condition on site. We help scope the survey against a known component list, then record its findings against the contract position.

Do we need to use Synaform software?

No. The advice and analysis stand on their own, and the outputs can be delivered in the formats and systems you already use.

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Talk to us about a contract approaching expiry

Tell us about the contract, how far it is from expiry and what you already hold. We can help work out where to begin.

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