Water and Sanitation Agreements

Public private partnerships in water require various agreements, or contracts, to outline the relationships and responsibilities between various stake holders. The agreements below are specific to the water and sanitation sectors.

Contract Law – Limitations on Freedom of Contract

The legal environment of a host country is likely to contain a number of restrictions on the parties' ability to contract freely and may also imply a number of provisions into the agreement. Civil law jurisdictions have a number of doctrines that will be implied into the relationship between the parties. For more, go to Key Issues in Civil Law systems that impact PPP projects.

Contract Plans / Performance Contracts

Whatever model of reform that is chosen for reforming public utilities, it has been found that these reforms can be made more effective if there is a performance contract in place between the utility and the government or regulator with incentives to meet and outperform that plan. This performance plan may be included in an informal Performance Contract, Contract Plan or a more formal, legally binding intergovernmental loan or grant agreement.

Implementation Agreements for Power PPPs

Implementation agreements provide for direct contractual obligations and undertakings between the Government and the supplier or project company: the government is not usually a party to the power purchase agreement.

Fuel Supply/Bulk Supply Agreement

Some issues that will need to be considered in a fuel supply agreement are:

  • Quality of the fuel - what happens if it does not meet the specification?