There can be a misconception, particularly in less developed PPP markets, that a PPP contract involves a 'total transfer of risks' to the Project Company. This can lead to misunderstanding of the contractual claims processes. While the intention in PPPs is to allocate significant risks to the Project Company, there will always be risks retained by the Procuring Authority, and this will have been the subject of careful negotiation between the parties. This is described in further detail in the Global Infrastructure Hub's PPP Risk Allocation Tool.2
Guidance on managing claims in PPP transactions is detailed in Section 3.5 (Claims). The key point is that claims are likely to be made by the Project Company at some stage during a PPP contract life and that a dispute will be more likely to arise if the Procuring Authority does not have a full understanding of the merits of a claim (for which the Project Company may be entitled to claim for and receive compensation) or the claims processes.
The Procuring Authority needs to also recognise that a claim made by the Project Company often originates with a contractor of the Project Company and the Project Company may be bound to pass the claim on to the Procuring Authority. In such circumstances, it is not necessarily a justification for concern that the Project Company is not acting in a spirit of partnership.
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2 Available at https://ppp-risk.gihub.org/