Primers

Risk Assessment for Public-Private Partnerships: A Primer (January 2014)

This primer addresses risk assessment for P3s and has been prepared as a companion document to the FHWA primers on Value for Money Analysis, Establishing a Public-Private Partnership Program, and Financial Structuring and Assessment for P3s. Project risk management involves systematically considering all possible outcomes before they happen and defining procedures to accept, avoid, or minimize the impact of risk on the project.

The primer:

Discusses how the extent of risk transfer varies by type of project and type of P3 contract
Outlines the key types of risks faced in P3 projects
Presents analysis of project risks to assess their cost impacts
Explains how risks are optimally allocated between the public and private sectors to minimize total project life-cycle costs
Discusses how costs of risks under traditional and P3 procurements may be incorporated into Value for Money analyses often used to compare the two procurement options

Financial Structuring and Assessment for Public-Private Partnerships: A Primer (December 2013)

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This primer addresses Financial Structuring and Assessment for Public-Private Partnerships and has been prepared as a companion document to the FHWA primers on Value for Money Analysis, Establishing a Public-Private Partnership Program, and Risk Assessment for P3s. Most P3 projects are financed with a combination of private equity, debt, and (often) public subsidies. For financial assessment of P3s, it is important to understand these sources of capital, how they are combined (referred to as "financial structure"), and how funds invested in a project are repaid.

The primer addresses:

Basic concepts of project finance for P3s, P3 revenue sources, sources of public sector financing for P3s, and sources of private capital, including how debt repayments may be scheduled to match projected cash flows to help make the project financially viable
The role of financial models, focusing on what is analyzed and interpretation of results
Metrics used for financial evaluation by public agencies, equity investors and lenders How financial assessments are used by project sponsors and private developers as P3 projects advance through the procurement and implementation processes

Value for Money Assessment for Public-Private Partnerships: A Primer (December 2012)

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Document currently being updated to reflect requirements in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Establishing a Public-Private Partnership Program: A Primer (November 2012)

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Establishing a P3 program within a public agency involves issues from enabling legislation through identification, evaluation, negotiation and management of P3 projects. This primer explores key issues involved in establishing a P3 program within a public agency to develop new highway capacity and infrastructure on a P3 basis.

The following topics are covered:

Key challenges to successful program development - organization/cultural changes, coordination, and conserving institutional knowledge
Strategies for implementation, including roles, staff building/hiring/training and specialized P3 units
Legal and statutory issues
Methods for identifying, evaluating and structuring P3 projects
Information on conducting procurement
Recommendations for oversight and monitoring
Responsibilities and considerations of policymakers as they assume the new role of a performance-based contract manager

Public-Private Partnership Concessions for Highway Projects: A Primer (October 2010)

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This primer provides a brief introduction to DBFOM P3 concessions for transportation project finance. Although many types of P3s exist, this primer focuses on P3s that involve assumption of financing risk by the private sector, as well as long term (10+ years) operations and maintenance. The primer reviews the basic structure of P3 project finance concessions and introduces the key public and private project participants and their roles. It also describes the motivations of both public and private partners for entering into P3s, presents typical P3 concession characteristics, and clarifies common misconceptions of what P3s can and cannot accomplish. Finally, the primer outlines typical P3 implementation steps and provides recent examples of P3 concessions.