20.3.1 Whilst availability should only be recognised from the time that the Service is actually available, further consideration may be appropriate as regards whether the Contract should specify the performance regime to apply in full from the Service Commencement Date.4 In some projects, such as prisons, it is recognised that issues are inevitable in the bedding-in period, and the Contractor can be afforded a degree of flexibility. In other projects, such as roads (where the safety element is crucial), it is essential that the Contractor ensures there are no settling in problems, and the Authority requires the full performance regime from day one,5 even if the road is opened in phases.
20.3.2 One approach which gives flexibility in the bedding-in period is to allow the Contractor partial relief from deductions during that period. For example, some Contracts where the Service involves relocation from existing facilities into new facilities have included a 3 to 6 month bedding-in period. During this time, monitoring takes place, but any financial deductions imposed on the Contractor for poor performance are set at a lower level than is the case once operations are fully established (but, in such cases, this does not affect the Authority's rights to terminate for Contractor Default).6
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4 This will be more complicated where the Project has more than one Service Commencement Date (see Section 7.8 (Handover, Commissioning, Acceptance and Service Commencement)).
5 See also Section [7.8] (Handover, Commissioning, Acceptance and Service Commencement).