Before being appraised, a project must be defined. That is, the project should be clearly defined as to its physical outline, the technology it will use, the outputs it will provide, and the people it will serve. Capital, operating, and maintenance costs should be estimated, as well as any revenue expected to be generated. This definition should be sufficiently broad to apply to a project delivered as either a PPP or a conventional publicly financed project.
The project concept is typically then tested for feasibility across several dimensions:
• Technical feasibility-can the project actually be implemented as planned, using proven technologies, and without unreasonable technical risks?
• Legal feasibility-are there any legal barriers to the project? For a PPP this includes considering whether there are any legal constraints on the government's ability to enter into a PPP contract
• Environmental and social sustainability-at a minimum, does the project comply with national environmental and planning standards? In some cases, a higher bar may be set, such as compliance with the equator principles-a set of standards on managing environmental and social risk from project finance transactions, based on World Bank Group standards, set out in detail at [#75].
Answering these questions usually involves engaging experts to undertake several detailed studies-for example, technical feasibility studies, legal analysis, environmental, and social impact assessments. For further guidance, see for example the detailed manuals published by the governments of Chile [#47], Colombia [#54], Germany [#111], Peru [#201], Philippines [#204], and the United Kingdom [#238] for carrying out feasibility studies for public sector investment projects.