The World Bank is seeking a law firm to conduct a research to develop the Report on Recommended PPP Contractual Provisions, 2016 Edition.

The complexity and sophistication of PPP transactions, and the fact that they are often heavily negotiated to reflect the characteristics of a given infrastructure project, frequently means that considerable time and expense is involved in preparing and finalizing PPP contracts. This has led many commentators to ask if it is possible to reduce costs, and shorten the time involved in such processes, by standardizing the provisions found in concession agreements or other PPP agreements between a government and a private company. 

In this context, and given (i) the variety of PPP transactions carried out globally; (ii) the different legal systems existing in various countries; and (iii) the need to have tailor-made' provisions to deal with the individual characteristics of specific projects, the development of complete PPP agreements on an international basis is likely an unrealistic goal. At the same time, however, there may be merit in focusing on certain contractual provisions dealing with particular legal issues encountered in virtually every PPP agreement. 

Against this background, the World Bank Group developed the Report on Recommended PPP Contractual Provisions, 2015 Edition which was published in August 2015 and presents the first attempt by any of the Multilateral Development Banks to prepare a compilation of recommended contractual language for PPP agreements. 

In response to the industry feedback received on the contents of the 2015 Report during internal and external stakeholder consultations following its publication, it is now intended to continue this very successful initiative and to engage an international law firm to prepare a new version of this report, namely the Report on Recommended PPP Contractual Provisions, 2016 Edition. The latter would particularly present additional commentary/explanatory notes as well as alternative recommendations to recognize that different types of contractual provisions may be required in (i) different types of legal systems (most importantly common law versus civil law systems) as well as (ii) countries with different levels of PPP transactional experience. 

The term of the consultancy shall commence on 21 March 2016 and end no later than 31 July 2016.

The lump sum payable for this assignment is USD 90,000.