Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a procurement method that employs a long-term contractual arrangement between public and private sectors with the intention of developing a public facility. A PPP brief must supply information that not only particularizes the project requirements but also specifies its program, risk management, expected performance output and payment mechanism. Many challenges currently face the briefing process of PPP projects in the UAE. A uniform briefing process has not been agreed, because there is no unified tender law or PPP procurement process in the country. The main aim of this research is to develop a framework for guiding the development of PPP briefing stage in the UAE construction industry. To this end, a process framework for PPP briefing with special reference to UAE construction projects was developed first, on the basis of an intensive literature review and analysis of case studies. This framework was validated through interviews with PPP experts and professionals in the UAE. Following this, the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in PPP briefing, with special reference to UAE construction projects, were investigated and identified through a literature review, expert interviews, and a questionnaire survey. This step led to developing another framework for CSFs in PPP briefing with special reference to UAE construction projects. With these in mind, CSFs were modelled to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) the main aim of which was to guide the of the briefing stage for PPP projects in the UAE. Its main objectives focused on assessing the readiness of public and private organizations for successful briefing development, highlighting areas for improvements and helping to develop action plans to improve the briefing process. In order to validate the developed model and assess its performance as a decision-making tool, two mega construction projects (real case studies) were assessed by means of the proposed model. The outputs of the implemented evaluation validated the major aspects of this model and its developed prototype, together with its performance for its stated purpose
