Clifford Chance (CC) is finalising a set of standardised private finance initiative (PFI) forms for property giant Rotch that could cut in half legal fees generated by the initiative.

A CC team led by property partner Andrew Rolfe plans to have forms ready in the next two weeks. They will reduce the legal costs of putting together a PFI deal for Rotch to as little as £300,000, depending on the size of the project.

Richard Thomas, managing director of Rotch's structured finance and PFI group, said: "I have spent £1m with Clifford Chance and in two weeks I expect to complete the first transaction using the standardised documents. If it doesn't happen, I'm £1m poorer."

The standardisation of PFI forms is being driven by a number of private and public bodies, including the Treasury's PFI taskforce, the NHS project finance unit and local government bodies.

Lovell White Durrant is working closely with the NHS unit to make the use of standardised risk allocation forms mandatory in projects valued at more than £25m. Legal Week understands that the two are also within weeks of finalising the forms.

The consultation period for comments on the Treasury's final draft standardisation guidelines closed last Friday (12 March) and the document will be made public at the end of April.

Although CC's work is proprietary to privately-owned Rotch, the forms are expected to set a benchmark that other companies will rush to match.

"We do not expect those contracts to be used by others without consideration," Thomas said. "But the reality is a particular solution can never be made exclusive."

The first two sets of documents, each including some 70 individual contracts, involve a mental health facility for Chichester NHS Trust, worth £19.6m, and a £12m community hospital for Sheppey.

The complexity is largely due to the need to cover every imaginable eventuality for the 30-year lifetime of the contracts, from changing technology to the threat of terrorism and war.

"PFI is akin to putting men in space with chewing gum and a ball of string," Thomas said. "You have to think about everything in advance."

Rotch has 10-12 deals worth £181m already at preferred bidder stage, most of which are scheduled to close this year or early in 2000.