Abstract Manager

The decision to outsource part or all of your operations and maintenance program is not an easy one to make and should not be made without some significant consideration of all the factors that could influence what your outsourced contract model might look like.  Although outsourcing the development and construction of assets has become somewhat routine, outsourcing O&M contracts remains a more unique and less conventional approach taken on only by and handful of agencies globally.  For any agency considering outsourcing their O&M program, the 5 key factors that should be explored in detail include:

• Supply chain – what service providers do you have in your area that might be interested in your outsourced program and how would you interact with them as part of the contract development?  How do you ensure a competitive bidding process both initially but also in the long term?
• Agency – what capacity do you have to develop, procure and most importantly administer a highway maintenance contract? What procurement rules do you have around selection and what level of transparency is required when paying contractors for their work?  What facilities or equipment do you own that you want to make available to the supply chain?
• Stakeholders – who are your key stakeholders (internal and external) and what level of engagement do you need with them to ensure their needs are met?
• Network – what does your network look like in terms of physical attributes? What service levels do you currently and want to deliver? 
• Activities – what activities do you want to include in your contract model and how do they interact with activities you don’t want to outsource?  How do you want to pay for those activities? (input, output or outcome?).  What warranty do you want on those activities and how will compliance with the specification be assessed?  What data and reporting do you want from your contractor?

By assessing each factor, it will become more obvious what your contract model will look like and answers to questions like "how long should be contract term be?" or "how many maintenance areas are needed?" will become much more apparent.

The presenters have a combined experience of 40 years on forced account, performance based, hybrid and P3 contract models on highway assets and through this presentation will provide detailed examples of how the 5 key factors have been applied in various projects across Canada and beyond.