Academy of Architecture for Justice

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2013 AAJ - Opportunities in Austerity for Courts and Communities

  

This year’s AAJ conference has quite a few discussions and presentations regarding project delivery alternatives.  One specific alternative to project delivery is the P3 process.  Personally, I have no experience in a P3 process.  However, I am very interested in hearing the different opinions and lessons learned because it’s become very popular process in the United States. 

A public-private partnership (P3) is a contractual agreement between a public agency and a private entity.  P3’s are meant to take advantage of the skills and assets from both parties to effectively and efficiently deliver a publicly used project.  For example, the majority of P3 projects done throughout the world are transportation related.  Other project types include ports, rail systems, water supply plants, power plants or even airports.

For the public realm, the benefit of a P3 lays allocation of risk and the ability to access private capital.  The public sector shifts some risk over the private sector.  Some of these risks are life cycle costs, risk of loss, and project delay.  By taking on these risks in the private sector, there needs to be some incentives.  One of the incentives is the potential for profit.  The private sector side of the P3 has an opportunity to gain efficiencies in the process and in the delivery of services, which in turn tend to generate profits for them.  This tradeoff is meant to streamline project delivery, for a lower cost, while still maintaining the project schedule and quality standards set forth for the project.  


Some questions that I have regarding the process are:

  • How are these projects regulated by the public sector?
  • Are there standards in place regarding project quality? Or is it project specific?
  • How does an Architect make sure that the solicitation is worth pursuing?
P3 projects are not just limited to the project types listed above, but also include Justice Facilities such as Correctional facilities and Courthouses.  This Thursday a presentation delivered by Frank Greene, Julia Hughes and Elizabeth Minnis will cover the “Opportunities in Austerity for Courts and Communities”.  The present will bring to light the different processes and approaches in order to gain a full picture of what a P3 can be capable of and what limitations are typically evident in the process as it related to Justice Facilities.  
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https://communityhub.aia.org/blogs/tommy-sinclair/2013/09/17/2013-aaj-opportunities-in-austerity-for-courts-and-communities