Large capital projects affect not only the direct participants, but many agencies and organizations throughout the community. It is a vital step in the delivery process to identify and categorize each of these stakeholder groups in order to gather feedback and establish open lines of communication. The project will require the cooperation and input from many entities that are not part of the project team. These groups of people need to have a means for transferring information and providing critical input to the development process. Using a methodical approach to logging these extended stakeholders, making contact and establishing a line of communication, and gathering pertinent information is an important step in developing the organizational framework for project delivery.
A significant amount of advanced planning is needed for the candidate selection process to provide the best results. Selection criteria must be established to properly evaluate and select the most qualified team to partner with on what is going to be a long-term partnership. Will there be a financial component to the evaluation? Are there significant design concerns that must be addressed in the initial selection? Will a multi-step selection process be used? The RFQ process should be thoroughly planned both from a content and a timeline standpoint. It is vital that potential partners have enough time and sufficient detail to prepare an attractive proposal. A balance between enough detail to develop interest without hampering the creative benefits provided by partnering with the private sector. Once the solicitation is published and proposals are received, analysis tools should be implemented to compare proposals in a consistent manner.
Working together with the private partner in the early phases of the project often requires an agreement on a number of items. What form of contract will the partnership take? Will the delivery include finance or operations components? What is the disposition of property ownership? What insurance requirements will be placed during construction and during operations? What steps will be required to achieve permanent finance for the project? As these items are negotiated between the parties, analysis of competing proposals is often required. The package of terms should be reviewed as a whole to develop the best set of terms beneficial to both parties.
