Where the asset is transferred back to the government at the end of the contract term, the risks it needs to mitigate are
• that the asset it inherits has been inadequately designed, maintained or refurbished, so that it does not have the useful life for which government has contracted. The mitigation available to government is through the monitoring processes and enforcement rights given to it under the contract. These include monitoring during the design and construction phases, the right to survey the asset during operation and compel performance of the private party's maintenance and refurbishment obligations, and access to the balance of any maintenance sinking fund upon early termination or upon contract expiry in the event that the asset does not retain the requisite useful life
• that the asset it inherits has a negative value as a result of significant liabilities attaching to it or significant rehabilitation or removal costs. This risk is best mitigated by imposing appropriate handover obligations on the private party under the contract