Project: Houses of Parliament Refurbishment

This proposal introduces the Project Health Control (PHC) Service as an independent governance tool to support the refurbishment of the Houses of Parliament, one of the largest, most sensitive, and most heavily documented public estate programmes in the United Kingdom. The Palace of Westminster faces well-established challenges including deterioration of the building fabric, ageing mechanical and electrical systems, fire safety exposure, asbestos, accessibility limitations, and the growing cost of reactive maintenance. Parliament’s current Restoration and Renewal programme is already at a major strategic stage, with costed proposals published in February 2026 and further delivery-option development underway.

The PHC Service is offered for use by project participants at all levels as a practical means of improving visibility of concerns, risks, actions, evidence, priorities, and overall project health across a highly complex stakeholder environment. Its purpose is not to replace the formal programme structure, but to strengthen governance discipline and help reduce the tendency to rush into detailed activity before the full concern landscape is properly understood.

The proposed PHC support would operate across three phases:

• Pre-start 7-Day Review – a rapid governance-based review of the current programme position, major concerns, key records, and immediate control gaps.
• Setup Phase – establishment of PHC reporting structure, concern tracking, action visibility, stakeholder support routines, and evidence-based oversight arrangements.
• Continuation Phase – ongoing governance support through live monitoring, reporting, concern escalation, action follow-up, and structured project health review throughout the wider refurbishment journey.

The refurbishment of the Houses of Parliament is a large-scale national infrastructure and heritage programme centred on the Palace of Westminster, one of the United Kingdom’s most significant historic and operational buildings.

The project involves addressing long-standing deterioration in the building fabric, mechanical and electrical systems, fire safety provisions, accessibility standards, security arrangements, and general operational resilience.

It must be undertaken within a uniquely complex environment shaped by political sensitivity, heritage protection, public scrutiny, specialist technical requirements, and the need to support the continuing function of parliamentary democracy.

The scale of documentation, stakeholder involvement, and decision-making complexity is substantial, with many interdependent issues needing careful coordination over an extended period. The project is therefore not only a matter of physical refurbishment, but also of maintaining continuity, protecting national heritage, managing public resources responsibly, and delivering a credible long-term solution for the future use, safety, and preservation of one of the most recognisable public buildings in the country.

• Restoration and Renewal Client Board - The member-led body responsible for making the key strategic choices and recommendations on the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. It sits at the top of the current programme governance structure.
• Restoration and Renewal Programme Board - The board with delegated authority for day-to-day direction and oversight of the programme, acting as the main bridge between Parliament’s leadership structure and the delivery side of the works.
• Restoration and Renewal Client Team - The support team that assists the member-led boards in oversight, coordination, and programme management across the parliamentary side of the project.
• Delivery Authority - The independent organisation responsible for designing and, once authorised by Parliament, delivering the restoration and renewal works themselves.
• Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords - Parliamentarians are central stakeholders because the building is their working environment, the programme affects democratic operations directly, and major decisions ultimately require parliamentary backing.
• Parliamentary Officials and Estate Teams - Clerks, estate managers, facilities staff, and related operational teams are involved because they help keep the Palace functioning and are closely connected to continuity, accommodation, logistics, and practical implementation.
• Technical, Heritage, and Safety Specialists - Architects, engineers, fire and safety professionals, conservation experts, surveyors, and other specialists are needed to address the Palace’s complex mix of historic fabric, ageing infrastructure, regulatory requirements, and operational risk.
• Contractors, Suppliers, and Training Partners - The programme depends on a broad external network of organisations, businesses, and skills providers to support surveys, design, enabling works, specialist interventions, and workforce development. Parliament says over 100 organisations, businesses, and training providers have already been engaged.
• Staff, Visitors, and the Wider Public - These groups are affected because the Palace is both a working seat of democracy and a major national heritage asset, so safety, access, continuity, value for money, and public confidence all matter.
• Order Efficiency Ltd / PHC Service Support - Order Efficiency Ltd may provide PHC Service support as an independent governance tool available to project participants at all levels, helping with visibility of concerns, actions, priorities, evidence, and overall project health. This would sit alongside, not replace, the formal programme structure.

• A safer Palace of Westminster - Major risks relating to fire, asbestos, ageing services, structural deterioration, and general building condition are reduced through planned and properly managed intervention.
• Protection of a nationally significant heritage asset - The historic and architectural value of the Houses of Parliament is preserved and strengthened for future generations.
• Renewed core infrastructure - Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, ventilation, communications, and related building systems are modernised to support reliable long-term operation.
• Improved operational resilience - The building becomes better able to support parliamentary activity without repeated disruption caused by failures, emergency repairs, or unsafe conditions.
• Better accessibility and usability - Members, staff, visitors, and contractors benefit from a more accessible, practical, and inclusive working environment.
• Reduced dependence on reactive maintenance - The need for costly short-term patch-and-mend activity is reduced through a more strategic refurbishment approach.
• Clearer governance and decision-making - Key parties have better visibility of priorities, risks, actions, progress, and unresolved issues across the programme.
• Stronger public confidence - The project demonstrates that a nationally important public asset can be refurbished with seriousness, transparency, and accountability.
• Long-term value for public money - Investment in refurbishment leads to a more sustainable and defensible long-term outcome than continuing with fragmented remedial works.
• Continuity of democratic function - Parliamentary business is protected through a managed approach that supports the ongoing role of the institution during the wider refurbishment journey.

Category	Description	Total Cost
IT Services and Tooling	Filemaker, Mindmanager, Conferencing, Development Apps (one off contribution)	£1,900
PHC Start Pack - Hardware (*1)	A set of 5 Single Board Computers, Monitor and UPS	£1,442
PHC 7-Day Review (*2)	PHC Service for Pre-start Review (7 days)	£1,421
PHC Setup (*2)	PHC Service during 2-month Setup Phase	£21,684
PHC Continuation (*2)	PHC Service during 3-month Continuation Phase	£76,230
Miscellaneous	Travel, training, insurance, and other variable costs	£1,000
		£103,677

(*1) Hardware Breakdown

Category	Description	Total Cost
Single Board Computer Set x5	Raspberry Pi 500, Mouse, hdmi cable, power cable)	£722
Monitor x5	Mini-Monitor (for RP500)	£480
Site UPS	Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for site computers.	£240
		£1,442

(*2) PHC People Costs [Review=M1, Setup=M2,3, Continuation=M4,5,6]

Role	People	Hourly Rate	M1	M2	M3	M4	M5	M6	Total (GBP)
PHC Strategist	David Winter	£69.30	8	40	40	40	40	40	£14,414
PHC Analyst	Abubakr Harakat	£46.20	10	80	80	120	120	120	£24,486
PHC Admin	Victor Williams [name2]	£26.95	15	80	80	360	360	360	£33,822
PHC Trainee	[name1] [name2] [name3]	£9.24	0	240	240	800	800	800	£26,611
Project People	[name1] [name2] [name3]	£46,20	0	0	0	0	0	0	£0
			£1,421	£10,842	£10,842	£25'410	£25,410	£25,410	£99,333

Footnote - People Costs and PICS Eligibility: The people-related costs shown above relate to funded governance, delivery, leadership, and trainee roles agreed at the outset of the project. These paid hours are not eligible for PICS (Pro Bono Social Impact Credits). PICS applies only to unpaid or underpaid service contributed outside funded roles. PHC Service maintains a clear, auditable separation between funded work and any pro-bono contribution, preventing double recognition while ensuring transparency to funders.

Appendix Highlights:

For supplementary information and supporting documents refer to the links section.

• The Story of PHC (Founder's Vision)
• Project Gap Analysis
• Rate Calculator (xlsx)
• Rate Calculator - 7-Day Review
• Rate Calculator - Setup Phase
• Rate Calculator - Continuation Phase
• Approach to Project
• Order Efficiency Ltd - Company Profile (Overview)
• Order Efficiency Ltd - Company Brochure
• Order Efficiency Ltd - Presentation
• PHC 7-Day Review Proposal Framework
• Incorporation Package (Structure & Governance)
• Evolution of PHC (History & Development)
• Why Projects Break Budgets (PHC Diagnostic Lens)
• PHC Concerns Management (A Railway Travesty)
• The PHC Value Proposition (Video - 3m)
• PHC in Action (Video - 20min)
• Seven PHC Lists (Video - 10min)