Once a project has been proposed for PPP, a technical evaluation is necessary to confirm that the project is viable in general planning, engineering, and environmental terms and to provide an estimate of the construction, operation, and maintenance costs for the economic and financial evaluations. At this stage, major risks in relation to engineering and cost issues should also be identified.
The initial step in the design process is to identify and record the relevant design standards, together with primary design criteria that are compatible with the project's objectives and location.
These criteria could include standards such as:
(1) Water treatment quality should pass the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water; and
(2) Adequate quantity for 24/7 water availability and standard pressure of for example 10 pounds per square inch (psi) for residential connections.
All of these design standards and criteria must be prepared to fulfill any key performance indicator or minimum services standard (output basis, not input basis).