"How To" guides usually start out by defining what the end objective is. In the case of PPPs it is clearly a successful PPP. But what is a successful PPP?
The definition of success depends on where you sit. For the public sector it might be seen as delivering the maximum public infrastructure for the lowest cost to taxpayers and users. After all, in some ways the various user fees are merely another form of "tax" for what was previously provided free by the public sector.
The public sector measures this cost in many ways including looking at the Net Present Value (NPV) for the lowest compliant bid, affordability (owners ability to pay annual tariffs), and measures such as a Public Sector Comparator.
For the Contractor/Developer, however, success can be simply defined as achieving an acceptable risk weighted return in a reasonable time frame. To accomplish this, the Contractor/Developer must execute a disciplined and staged risk management process and be willing to exit the process and move onto the next opportunity if an appropriate risk weighted return cannot be achieved.
The stepwise process the Contractor/Developer must move through may start at different points and some stages may be iterative. It is not uncommon for multiple activities to be ongoing in parallel. However, the basic hurdles that must be cleared do not fundamentally change. Each of the sections that follow take a look at the hurdles the Contractor/Developer must clear to achieve success.