5.1.1  Attribute management responsibilities

After contract signing, the responsibility for contract management will normally be transferred to a contract management team, established by the public contracting authority. If a roads agency, for example, has more than one PPP contract, it makes sense for efficiency reasons that a single contract management team manages all ongoing PPP contracts.

A contract management team, reporting to a contract director, will carry out many day-to-day contract management activities. It is desirable to include the proposed contract director in the project management team at an early stage of the procurement process, or at least allow her to observe the procurement process and have access to procurement team members. This enables an informed preparation of the contract management strategy, including an understanding of the project and its inherent risks.

Before this transfer of responsibilities occurs, the public authority will need to ensure that: <1>

□  there is a clear definition of responsibilities, by separating project management from contract management responsibilities;

□  the provisions for handling contract changes and managing contractor failure are in place;

□  a system of ongoing contract management review is in place, which includes proper oversight of contract management by public stakeholders; and

□  there are sufficient budget and staff resources to undertake the contract management responsibilities.

It is important that the public authorities set the basic framework under which contract management teams will operate prior to choosing the preferred bidder. This will reduce the uncertainty faced by the bidders in terms of the expected costs and required interaction with the public authorities throughout the duration of the contract. Specifically, bidders will need to incorporate monitoring and contract compliance costs into their bids and should therefore be provided with a clear indication of what type of information will be required from them and how often.

At the start of the contract managing phase, the contract management team will need to develop in detail the management tools and processes, including contingency plans and protocols in place to manage changes by means of a contract administration manual<2>