H.6.1 Planning, information collection and analysis

Planning, information collection and analysis are the key first steps towards effective contract management for PPP projects. These activities go hand in hand. Planning the contract management strategies that will be used for the project helps determine the information that will be required to implement those strategies, while the information collected and analysed helps refine the contract management plan and helps the government party to identify, understand and manage project risks.

In a well-managed PPP project, robust contract management planning and information collection and analysis processes have the following outcomes:

• Contract management personnel understand the legislative, regulatory and commercial context of the project;

• All the key project risks are identified and updated as necessary. The likelihood of each risk materialising, and its potential consequences and impact on project objectives, have been assessed;

• Possible controls and mitigants for each risk have been identified, assessed and implemented;

• Interdependencies between risks are understood;

• The private party's ability to manage the risks allocated to it has been assessed; and

• Potential changes in the project's risk profile over its lifecycle have been considered, planned for and responded to. Good contract management is not reactive, but aims to anticipate and respond to business needs of the future.

Planning, information collection and analysis commence during procurement and are iterative processes. Regular review of plans will help determine what new information should be collected and analysed and where it can be sourced. Regular analysis of the information gathered then helps to refine the overall contract management strategy.