Adopting non-privately funded public-private partnerships in maintenance projects: A case study in Hong Kong

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to establish whether this type of approach is suitable for maintenance schemes from the perspective of both the public agent and the service provider. Until recently, non-privately funded public-private partnerships have been adopted for the maintenance of infrastructure facilities. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, stakeholders involved in a trial of a non-privately funded public-private partnerships project were invited to express their opinions on the success and pitfalls of this type of scheme. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 management and front-line staff of the public and private partners to capture their opinions on the project. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to uncover the views and standpoints of other stakeholders on PPP. A total of 33 respondents completed the questionnaire. Findings - The results indicate that the non-privately funded PPP approach is more cost-effective and efficient in the delivery of maintenance services when compared with the traditional term contract. The performance-based payment mechanism adopted could help improve the quality of maintenance services performed by the contractor. The inspection and programming tasks are transferred to the service provider relieving the workload of the public agency. Most stakeholders who participated in this study agreed that the non-privately funded PPP approach can allow higher flexibility, encourage innovation, enhance cost-effectiveness and improve the efficiency of work when compared with the traditional term contract in the delivery of maintenance services. Originality/value - This paper provides a general introduction to the method adopted in the non-privately funded public-private partnerships approach with particular reference to the maintenance of infrastructure schemes. More important, the potentials and pitfalls of using this type of mechanism with maintenance projects are examined, which helps enhance understanding of this rather unexplored topic.