Too often savings in construction cost and time are at the expense of design and materials, and high finance and support costs, writes Martin Cook In response to Lord Hutton’s letter ( 23 November ) on NHS hospitals built under the private finance initiative (PFI), independent research into the design quality of PFI public buildings, by all of the auditing authorities in the UK, showed serious flaws and a significant “quality gap” when compared to traditional design-led procurement. In my 2007 book The Design Quality Manual: Improving Building Performance, I included results from all these reviews, starting with the Audit Commission’s 2003 report PFI in Schools. The design flaws were serious, including poor functionality, short-life materials, and non-compliance with building and safety regulations. Continue reading...