The multiple tasks involved in the Transition Period, including developing and then implementing the systems for contract management, amount to a substantial project in their own right. It is therefore sensible to manage the development process using the conventional project management tools. These include producing some form of Project Initiation Document (PID) covering the work involved. This should be approved by the Contract Management Board to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the Contract Management Team. The PID should analyse the project into stages so that the Contract Manager and the Contract Management Board can monitor progress from stage to stage.
Typically the stages for contract management would comprise:
• planning for contract management - prior to contract signature;
• contract management systems development - between contract signature and start of construction;
• contract management systems implementation - during the Construction period; and
• review and control of contract management systems - after Service Commencement.
The PID should include a concise and precise description of the project objectives. It is important that both public and private sector parties are aligned in their understanding of the Authority's objectives for the project. Therefore the Authority's project team should consider holding a joint workshop/away day with the bidder prior to Contract signature to ensure that it has a good understanding of the Authority's objectives and vice versa. An example of a PID is included at Appendix C.
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For PFI projects the Pre-Preferred Bidder Final Business Case should include a description of the objectives of the project. This can be extracted and incorporated within the Project Initiation Document. |
Documenting the project objectives in the PID will provide the Authority's Contract Management Team with a useful benchmark to help assess the success of the project against the original aspirations, during the course of the Contract. It will also provide a foundation for briefing any stakeholders who also need to understand the Authority's objectives.
Once the PID has been approved the project management of the Transition stage should deliver the following key outputs which are explored in the remainder of this Chapter 2:
• Transition Plan (see Section 2.1.3)
• Reporting Systems (see Section 2.1.4)
• Resourcing the Transition (see Section 2.1.5)
• Budgeting for contract management (see Section 2.1.6)
• Project Governance (see Section 2.1.7)
• Risks and Issue Management (see Section 2.1.10)
• Quality Management (see Section 2.1.11)
• Contract Management Manual (see Section 2.1.12)
• Lessons Learned Log (see Section 2.1.15)