Governments are under pressure to deliver roads, power, water, transport and social infrastructure faster than public budgets allow. Performance-based contracts and public-private partnerships promise whole-life value, but only when the agreement is written around measurable service outcomes and the agency has the capacity to enforce it. Weak specifications, poorly shared risks and thin monitoring leave public bodies carrying the cost while services fall short.

This programme follows the life of an infrastructure agreement from preparation to handback. Participants begin with project screening, affordability and value-for-money analysis, then move to structuring the deal, defining outputs and service levels, designing payment and deduction mechanisms, and allocating risk between the agency and the private party. Later sessions deal with procurement and negotiation, financial close, the construction and operating phases, performance reporting, change control, renegotiation and dispute resolution, and the conditions under which assets return to the state.

Teaching relies on contract extracts, payment calculation exercises and role-played negotiations rather than lectures. Each participant finishes with a draft performance schedule and a monitoring plan for a project from their own organisation, ready to discuss with colleagues and advisers.

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish input-based, output-based and outcome-based contracting and choose the right model for a given asset.
• Write output specifications and key performance indicators that can be measured and enforced.
• Design payment mechanisms, including availability payments, deductions and incentive bonuses.
• Allocate demand, construction, operating, currency and political risk between public and private parties.
• Apply affordability and value-for-money tests to a proposed PPP before it goes to market.
• Manage variations, renegotiation requests and disputes while protecting service continuity.
• Set up contract monitoring arrangements covering reporting, audits and step-in rights.
• Plan the handback of assets in an agreed condition at the end of the term.

The programme is intended for public sector staff and advisers who prepare, award or oversee infrastructure agreements, including:

• PPP unit and project preparation officers
• Contract managers in ministries and state corporations
• Procurement and supply chain officers
• County and municipal infrastructure directors
• Roads, water, energy and health facility engineers
• Legal advisers and contract lawyers
• Finance, budget and treasury officers
• Auditors and oversight officials
• Development partner staff supporting infrastructure programmes

Participants leave with practical tools they can apply to live projects:

• A draft performance schedule with indicators, thresholds and measurement methods.
• A simple payment and deduction model they can adapt to their own sector.
• A risk allocation matrix for use in project preparation workshops.
• A checklist for assessing unsolicited proposals and bidder submissions.
• A contract management plan with reporting calendar, roles and escalation routes.
• Negotiation tactics for variations and renegotiation requests.

Learning is anchored in documents participants will meet in their daily work:

• Annotated extracts from road, water, energy and health infrastructure agreements
• Spreadsheet exercises on payment mechanisms and deductions
• Role-played negotiations between agency and private party teams
• Facilitated clinics on live projects brought by participants
• Peer review of draft performance schedules

Delegates who attend the sessions and complete the practical exercises are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy, a useful record of professional development for contracting and project teams.