19.11.1.1 The Contract will set out the Unitary Charge for the entire Contract term. However, due to the uncertainties of inflation rates and certain operating costs over a long-term contract, it is usually in the interests of both Authority and Contractor to set out provisions for varying the Unitary Charge in certain specified circumstances. The Contractor should always be encouraged to control its costs, but if there are mechanisms for addressing unforeseeable changes in costs, the Contractor can reduce the contingency in its bid price for such risk.
19.11.1.2 The Contract must achieve the right balance between the provisions for change in law (see Section 16 (Change in Law)), indexation and value testing (though value testing will now be the exception rather than the rule now (see Schedule 2 (Market Testing and Benchmarking); these are inherently interrelated, particularly in relation to the allocation of operating-cost risk. The Authority should consider such inter-relationships when preparing its bid documents.