Public private partnerships in infrastructure procurement : a generic multi-attribute hierarchical model for minimising pre-contract time and cost overruns (GmAHM)

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Public-private partnerships and contract negotiations: an empirical study

Despite the increasing popularity in the use of the public-private partnership concept as a procurement strategy, there have been reported cases of problems associated with the initial stages of the process in terms of unduly high bidding costs and pre-contract time overruns due mainly to the protracted nature of the negotiations. Empirical research conducted in the UK has focused on the extent of these pre-contract time and cost overruns. The key attributes of both the private sector consortia and the public sector organizations that have significant bearing on the efficiency of the pre-contract processes are: the nature and strength of the consortium, the quality of the technical proposals they produce for the bid, and the quality of their financial proposals. For the public sector organizations they are the organizational capabilities and technical capabilities. The financial capabilities of the public sector are ranked lowest in influencing the procurement process. Whilst there was broad agreement on the ranking of importance for the various descriptive attributes, differences between the two sectors are revealed relating to risk, previous experience, evaluation criteria in the bidding documents and effect of public opinion. A better understanding of what is important to each party in the negotiations is an important step in improving the PPP process.Public-private partnerships, negotiation, consortium, public sector, procurement,

Whole life costing of domestic energy demand reduction technologies: householder perspectives

A recent, major UK research project investigated technical and social aspects of reducing the CO2 emissions of UK domestic housing by 50% by the year 2030. As 80% of the UK housing stock that will be present in 2030 has already been built, this study aimed to research the whole life costs of three sets of energy demand reduction technologies for existing housing, over a 25‐year period, suitable to deliver significant CO2 emissions reduction up to 50%. Demand side technological interventions in the form of fabric upgrades and ventilation systems are identified. Whole life cycle analysis of interventions carried out on two housing variants prominent in the domestic stock under different energy price scenarios is carried out using discounted cash flow and compared with the do‐nothing option. The results show that, despite reducing annual energy bills, there is no clear financial case even over a 25‐year horizon for householders to invest in the proposed interventions that contribute to CO2 emission reduction targets. When discussed with respect to household income and consumption preferences, the results reveal the need for new policy approaches to overcome the financial and non‐financial hurdles for a mass uptake of energy efficient technologies.Energy consumption, energy efficiency, whole life costing, housing,