The RFP and any subsequent stage of PPP procurement processes require fully costed solutions supported by detailed information on design, construction, maintenance and financing. As a result, the level and/or amount of information required from bidders are significant and can easily become excessive if Governments request unnecessary information. Excessive information and documentation requests result in significant bid costs (particularly where specialist consultant input is required), as well as possibly and inadvertently resulting in compromised outcomes where focus is removed from more important elements of the bid.
Excessive information and documentation results from requests for:
• detail not required to determine a preferred bidder, particularly in relation to the level of detailed design drawings within the initial bid submission and the degree of downstream legal documentation (examples include detailed electrical layouts and details of signage)
• information regarding general processes that construction contractors and facilities maintenance contractors must have in place in order to maintain industry accredited certification (when Governments could, instead, rely on such accreditation)
• non-project specific and largely irrelevant information not required for evaluation of the current project (perhaps a legacy from previous projects used as precedents).
In addition, although most Participants are happy with the typical EOI process, several expressed concern about the growing length (and consequent cost) of EOI submissions, and the relative subjectivity of the EOI evaluation criteria. However, longer and more detailed EOI submissions generally have come from consortia seeking to improve their chances of selection for the short-list, rather than from any Government requirement.