2.2. Construction Stage

The construction period begins with the Appointed Date and ends with the Commercial Operations Date (COD). This is the period when the actual construction of the project takes place. The time required for construction is assessed during the technical feasibility assessment stage and is also indicated in the bidding documents.

The following are verified as part of post award contract management activities during the construction period:

1. Has the remaining land been made available by the public entity to the private partner as per the project schedule?

2. Are bi-monthly site visits to the project site being carried out by the public entity?

3. Is the progress being reviewed on a monthly and quarterly basis by the Independent Engineer through the submission of inspection reports to the public entity?

4. Is continuous fulfilment of mutual obligations and the duty to implement course corrections (if any) being carried out?

5. Is the progress and adherence to performance indicators being reviewed?

6. In the case of non-compliance by the private partner, have the course correction clauses been invoked?

7. Is monthly reporting on the project status to the relevant central Ministry/State Government happening?

8. Has the public entity approved the Operations & Maintenance manual submitted by the private partner?

9. Has the public entity carried out adequate tests prior to COD, in order to ensure quality of the construction and complete issuance of completion certificate?

The challenge in post award contract management at this stage of the project development process is to ensure that the project is constructed on time. Experience shows that projects are often not finished on time, leading to an escalation in costs. One of the main causes of the delays is the time taken for land acquisition and its transfer to the private partner by the public entity. This process needs to be monitored as part of the project. More on land acquisition and the process involved is set out in the Module on Pre-Procurement Activities, viz. Module 12.