Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Public-private partnerships are a new way of putting public civil engineering works up for tender where the funding, construction, ongoing operation and upkeep, among other things, are incorporated in one single invitation to tender for a project – a PPP project.

In connection with a PPP project, the major part of the investment is made by the private party with the public party paying for the job on an ongoing basis, typically for a prolonged period of time, e.g. 30 years. The private party is subject to requirements that are generally of a functional rather than performance-related nature. As a result, the private party has freer scope than in conventional civil engineering projects to determine how to ensure the incorporation of agreed functions in a construction project and how to subsequently operate and maintain it.

All PPP projects should be preceded by a systematic, financiald assessment and distribution of risks between the public and the private party.

A means to improve efficiency
The introduction of new forms of cooperation and organisation is one of the government’s means to achieve its overall goal of a more efficient public sector providing high-quality service in the most cost-effective way. A PPP is one of several possible forms of organisation. PPPs also figure prominently in the government publication "Staten som bygherre" (The State as Client) from 2003 as a means to a more efficient building sector.

An important reason for this is that the private party is expected to be given financial incentives to develop solutions resulting in more and better construction projects for the money available when the responsibility for the construction and subsequent upkeep and services such as security, cleaning, canteen operation and other operating tasks are the responsibility of the private party.

For more information on the government’s ideas concerning PPPs, see the government programme and the action plan for public-private partnerships (PPPs). You can find guidelines and tools for the planning and implementation of PPP projects on the National Agency for Enterprise and Construction website.

Read more about PPP projects and national construction.

Read more about the Danish National Archives Project - a PPP project.

			Last modified 08-07-2007