ConsensusDocs announced the publication of a new industry standard public-private partnership (P3) agreement. The ConsensusDocs 900 Standard P3 Agreement and General Conditions is a pioneering document from ConsensusDocs that represents a vast improvement of P3 agreements.
Consistent with the ConsensusDocs philosophy, the document provides a fair and balanced standard for a P3 project to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain (DBFOM) between an Owner and Concessionaire. This new agreement is as part of the ConsensusDocs Public-Private-Partnership (P3) 900-series.
P3 contracts typically involve complex 200-plus page contracts that obfuscate and inappropriately shift risk. The new ConsensusDocs Standard P3 Agreement provides a fair off-the-shelf solution for P3 projects that can be modified to meet specific project needs. This will significantly lower the transactional costs for small and medium sized P3 projects to both create a contract as well as assess the risk involved for pursing potential P3 projects.
“Rather than create a P3 agreement from scratch, the new ConsensusDocs 900 P3 Standard Agreement provides a sophisticated and flexible contractual solution that users can modify based upon the specific needs,” said Ernest C Brown, a San Francisco-based Construction lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, who chaired the ConsensusDocs P3 Working Group. “The P3 is an innovative contracting vehicle that offers a better mechanism to consider a projects life-cycle costs and flexibility in financing for project.”
Brian Perlberg, Executive Director and Senior Counsel of ConsensusDocs adds, “P3 projects are often clouded by rampant risk shifting that ultimately hurts project outcomes. At the very least, the new ConsensusDocs P3 agreement creates a fair baseline for owners, financiers, builders, and designers alike to begin a real conversation to contract utilizing public-private partnerships.”
Source: Associated General Contractor
