Government鈥檚 construction adviser calls for construction companies to operate the buildings they work on

锘縏he government鈥檚 chief construction adviser Paul Morrell has said he wants all government buildings to be operated by the companies that construct them, for up to five years after completion.

Morrell, who has been pushing for the industry to become more integrated, said the arrangement would force contractors and consultants to think more about how a building operated in practice.

He suggested building into public sector contracts a 鈥減eriod of post-completion operation that is long enough to expose weaknesses in the design and construction but not so long as to build in the inflexibility that is one of the problems of a typical PFI arrangement鈥�. The typically 25-year long PFI arrangements, heavily used by Labour, are under attack by the coalition and many MPs.

鈥淚t has not yet got to the stage of being considered by government,鈥� Morrell added.

His proposal comes after Carillion signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to 鈥渞e-engineer procurement and service delivery鈥� across a number of its existing contracts as the Cabinet office pushes to drive down the costs of its 50 biggest suppliers.