Glossary

Term

Meaning

 

Bidder

A respondent to an EOI request or an invitation to submit a bid in response to a RFP. Typically a bidder will be a consortium of parties, each responsible for a specific element, such as constructing the infrastructure, supplying the equipment, or operating the business.

 

Business Case

The document that articulates the rationale for undertaking an investment. In NSW, the business case should be prepared in accordance with Treasury Policy and Guidelines Paper TPP08-5 Guidelines for Capital Business Cases.

 

Capital

A generic term for an asset. Capital sometimes refers to financial investments and at other times to physical capital, such as land and buildings, earthworks, machinery and vehicles.

 

Condition Precedent

Certain conditions that are required to be satisfied prior to the majority of the project agreement becoming effective.

 

Consortium

Those private party entities who together intend to deliver a PPP.

 

Contractual Close

The date when contracts are executed.

 

Discount Rate

The rate used to calculate the present value of future cash flows, usually determined on the basis of the cost of capital used to fund the investment from which the cash flow is expected.

 

Delivery Steering Committee or Board

The Committee or Board of departmental/agency representatives, chaired by the Responsible Agency and including NSW Treasury, responsible for overseeing the delivery (construction), operations and eventual handback of the PPP project to Government.

 

Economic Infrastructure PPP

A PPP where the private party derives revenue from third parties (e.g. user charges) and therefore takes on the demand risk. Typical examples of economic infrastructure are networks of roads and telecommunications facilities, airports, ports, water storage and sewerage, railways, electric power generation and distribution facilities.

 

Expressions of Interest (EOI)

The tender phase used to shortlist bidders to proceed to submit more detailed proposals.

 

Financial Close

The date of satisfaction of the last Condition Precedent is known as Financial Close. Whilst a contract is binding once signed, a contract only becomes completely effective at Financial Close.

 

Intellectual Property

Inventions, original designs and practical applications of good ideas protected by statute law through copyright, patents, registered designs, circuit layout rights and trademarks; trade secrets, proprietary know-how and other confidential information protected against unlawful disclosure by common law and through additional contractual obligations such as Confidentiality Agreements.

 

Interactive Tender Process (ITP)

The process of conducting workshops and consultations with short-listed bidders and the project team, generally during the RFP phase.

 

National PPP Guidelines

The suite of guidance (Policy Overview and Volumes of Detailed Guidance) that form the national guidance on PPPs. See: https://infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/ngpd/index.aspx

 

Preferred Bidder

A short-listed bidder selected following the RFP evaluation to proceed to the negotiation and completion phase.

 

Probity

Uprightness, honesty, proper and ethical conduct and propriety in dealings.

 

Probity Auditor/Adviser

An independent expert retained to monitor the procurement process at critical stages, assessing and reporting whether the process has been conducted to the required standards of probity.

 

Project Director

The person engaged by the Responsible Agency with overall accountability for procuring and/or managing the project during delivery and operations. The procuring Project Director may differ to the delivery and operations Project Director.

 

Project Steering Committee or Project Board

The Committee or Board of departmental/agency representatives, chaired by the Responsible Agency and including NSW Treasury, established by the Responsible Agency and/or Cabinet to oversee the procurement of the PPP project and deal with key issues.

 

Project Summary

The document that is released to the public following the contract becoming effective that sets out the key aspects of the project, including key contract terms.

 

Project Team

The group of specialists and departmental/agency representatives, established by the Responsible Agency, that is responsible for assisting the Project Director to deliver the project (including developing project documentation and undertaking evaluation processes).

 

Proponent

See Bidder.

 

Public Private Partnership (PPP)

A long-term arrangement between the public and private sector for the delivery of service enabling public infrastructure, including Social Infrastructure PPPs, Economic Infrastructure PPPs, joint financing arrangements and concession agreements.

 

Public Sector Comparator (PSC)

An estimate of the net present value of a project's whole of life costs and revenues using the most efficient and likely form of Government delivery.

 

Reference Project

The basis for calculating the PSC, reflecting Government delivery of the project by traditional means.

 

Request for Proposals (RFP)

The tender phase involving the release of the RFP to short-listed bidders for detailed, fully costed RFP responses, followed by evaluation and selection of the preferred bidder.

 

Responsible Agency

The Government agency that is responsible for procuring and/or delivering and managing the project during construction and operations. The procuring Responsible Agency may differ to the delivery and operations Responsible Agency.

 

Retained Risk

The value of those risks or parts of a risk that Government bears under a PPP project.

 

Risk Allocation

The allocation of responsibility for dealing with the consequences for each risk to one of the parties to the contract; or alternatively, agreeing to deal with a particular risk through a specified mechanism which may involve sharing that risk.

 

Shadow Bid Model (SBM)

A PPP Shadow Bid Model is the Responsible Agency's best estimate of a private party bid price (in net present value/cost terms) to deliver the output specification under a PPP project structure. The SBM should reflect a private party's costs and debt and equity structure, and the Project Deed terms (including the payment mechanism). The SBM is dynamic and should be updated as new information is received but should be finalised prior to or soon after the RFP release.

 

Short-listed Bidder

Bidders selected as part of the EOI evaluation to be invited to submit a proposal in response to an RFP issued by Government for a project.

 

Social Infrastructure PPP

A PPP where the government pays the private party a service fee for the availability of a facility/social infrastructure. Examples of social infrastructure include hospitals, schools, police stations, prisons, transport and road projects involving availability payments.

 

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)

An entity created to act as the legal manifestation of a project consortium. In establishing a project consortium, the sponsor or sponsors typically establish the private party in the form of a SPV which contracts with Government.

 

Steering Committee

See Project Steering Committee or Project Board, or Delivery Steering Committee or Board.

 

Tender Process

The process of inviting the market to submit bids against a particular project and includes the EOI, RFP and negotiation phases.

 

Unsolicited Proposal

Please refer to the NSW Government's Unsolicited Proposals Guide for Submission and Assessment.