Future proofing PPPs: Life-cycle performance measurement and Building Information Modelling

Abstract

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are widely used to procure public infrastructure assets and are an effective mechanism for ensuring value for money. However, many PPPs in Australia have been plagued with controversy as they have experienced significant cost and schedule overruns during construction. Critical to the successful delivery of PPP projects is effective performance measurement/evaluation. Yet, conventional ex-post evaluation that solely focuses on meeting budget and a predetermined schedule are invariably applied to measure PPPs in practice. This paper reviews the performance measurement literature used to evaluate PPP projects and proposes that a life-cycle approach to their evaluation is needed to 'future proof' their performance and ensure value for money that is delivered to the public sector. As the primary focus of PPPs is to maximise profitability, there is a need to ameliorate the coordination and integration between the Special Purpose Vehicle, end-users and the public sector. This can be enabled through the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as it not only provides digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of an asset, but also provides key decision makers with the ability to make informed decisions across a project's life-cycle. When aligned with a series of core indicators that are used for performance measurement, it is suggested that BIM can act as a catalyst for 'future proofing' PPPs and enable the successful management of an asset throughout its life-cycle.