PPP projects generate a large amount of information and data, which must be managed by the Project Company and Procuring Authority throughout the project life. The Project Company is typically required to submit periodic performance reports with detailed reporting on performance failures, availability reports, safety reports, information on public policy issues, etc.
Managing information well ensures that the Procuring Authority has a clear understanding of how the Project Company is performing and the quality of the service provided. It is also directly relevant to performance monitoring (including monitoring of KPIs), detailed in Section 3.2 (Performance monitoring), and effective management of disagreements and disputes, detailed in Chapter 5 (Disputes).
Document control is an essential part of contract management. A number of projects were found to suffer from poor document and data control, which was the result of two factors:
- The volume of documents and data was underestimated when the contract management plan was formulated.
- An inability to comply with the information management strategy in place.
Challenges can arise when the parties do not recognise the importance of the information and data management strategy from the outset, particularly in the case of large and complex PPPs. Robust and well-structured document and data control ensures the continuity of knowledge throughout the duration of the contract. It also provides opportunities for knowledge sharing within the team and between the relevant parties. Continuity of knowledge among contract management teams is key to successful contract management.
Poor information management can lead to:
- Disagreements and disputes with respect to claims or scope changes, where neither party is fully aware of what the underlying facts are
- Non-compliance with intragovernmental reporting requirements
- Poor performance monitoring
- Poor public transparency with respect to the performance of the Project Company under a PPP contract
- Repetition of mistakes made on other projects because the remedies were not properly recorded
Example – Document control during transitions
The Procuring Authority on the Brabo I Light Rail project in Belgium experienced a challenging transition between construction and operations, made more difficult by inadequate document control. A better information management system was needed to help with continuity of knowledge, and to access data and information that was created during construction.
For more information, see the Brabo I Light Rail Case Study.
This section provides guidance on information management. The key elements of successful information management are summarised below and detailed in Subsection 3.4.1 (Guidance).
A. Understand the scope of the data to be collected and maintained as part of the project
C. Where possible, use similar information management systems and software across multiple projects