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The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a long‐term concession of services used by the UK Government to capture private capital to fund public projects. This model is being increasingly applied in Portugal and the assessment of its competitive advantage is very important to Portugal. The empiric study undertaken both in Portugal and the UK has permitted some conclusions to be drawn already. PFI has developed the way the construction industry is managed, and has increased the competitive advantage of UK construction industry acting in the four vectors of competitive advantage: innovation, quality, efficiency and attention to the client. Innovation occurred through new designs that were more efficient and cost effective through the project’s whole life cycle. There is the widespread use of management tools: whole life cycle costing, risk management and benchmarking. PFI also improved communication in the UK construction industry, forcing interaction and feedback from all stakeholders in a project.

The objective of this research was t o identify the cross-cultural similarities and differences of the implementation of the UK PFI procurement process in different contexts. The research methodology adopted was the SLEEPT approach, the identified features (Social, Legal, Economic, Environmental, Political, Technological) are examined from source material of various projects within the stated nations. A Delphic approach of confirmation by national collaborators from each country i s utilised. Confirming and disaffirming features are examined utilising exogenous cultural drivers.The conclusion of this research identifies cross-cultural features of six different cultures presented as a 'cultural compass' which will inform the development of future PFI/PPP projects.The impact of this research will have implications for the appreciation of cultural similarities and differences of national 'construction cultures' for effective project delivery of future PFI/PPP projects. PFI projects should be considered within the existing exogenous features of a nation. Merely implementing standardised PFI protocols without recognising these inherent differences will lead to project failures. This paper offers an approach that can be generalised for adoption by nations considering the introduction of PFI as a procurement process.

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