Читать книгу Integrating Sustainability Into Major Projects - Wayne McPhee - Страница 44

There are a number of different project types that use variations on the concept of design-build-finance-own-operate (DBFOO) contracts depending on who provides financing and how the operations and maintenance contract is structured. DBFOO is often used for infrastructure projects where the owner can hand over all activities to the DBFOO firm to both deliver the project and operate the project over a specified period of time. In a DBFOO contract the owner is still responsible for financing the project and pays the firm in specified installments over the life of the project. The DBFOO firm provides initial project financing and the owner provides a set annual operations payment throughout the operations. The DBFOO firm recovers its investment from these operations payments.

In these contracts, the owner also hands over significant control of project delivery to the DBFOO firm. Therefore, a clear understanding of who will be responsible for sustainability and community engagement is important. The owner and the DBFOO firm need to have a common understanding of the sustainability requirements and expectations so that project success can be realized for both parties. The DBFOO firm may need only a bare minimum of community support to build and operate the project to recover their investment, but the owner may be looking for a higher level of community engagement and acceptance.

One of the key advantageous of a DBFOO contract is that it shifts the time horizon of the typical EPC structure. Now the project development firm has a strong incentive to manage long-term operating costs and community support since they will also be operating the project for a set period of time. The time horizon for DBFOO contracts is longer than EPC contracts but it is still important for the owner to specify project conditions at exit of the contract. This is to prevent the risk that the DBFOO firm will reduce their attention to key environmental and social aspects toward the end of the contract, lose community support, and leave the owner with an asset that requires significant investment to repair and maintain.