It doesn’t matter what project we’re talking about.

PPP or else.

If I took a picture of most people negotiating a Project Agreement today and compared it with one from five years ago, you wouldn’t notice the difference.

Same priorities.

Same obsession with financial close.

Same attention to construction risk.

Same drama around LDs, relief events, variations, refinancing, performance deductions and lenders’ approvals.

And the same silence around Hand-Back Requirements.

Nothing has changed.

Except one thing.

The consequences are now closer.

Yes…

Much closer.

That is the problem with hand-back.

It never looks urgent.

Not during bid.

Not during preferred bidder.

Not during financial close.

Not during construction.

Not even during the first years of operations.

It sits there.

Quietly.

Like a clause nobody wants to read.

Until one day, 25 or 30 years later, someone opens the contract and realises the project has been buying tickets for a very expensive fight since day one.

Pavement condition.

Residual life.

Inspections.

Independent certification.

Environmental liabilities.

Contamination.

Lifecycle obligations.

Holdbacks.

Disputes over condition.

Arguments about whether the asset is being handed back properly or whether everyone has just been pretending for three decades.

And then everyone acts surprised.

A classic!

But there is no surprise.

Just bad drafting.

Bad thinking.

And people who were too busy looking important during financial close to ask the boring questions that actually mattered.

Now pay attention.

Think about what you knew about Hand-Back Requirements five years ago.

Then think about what you know today.

If the answer is “roughly the same”, that is not a good sign.

Because the market has moved.

The lessons are there.

The disputes are there.

The good precedents are there.

And the mistakes are still being repeated.

That is why I prepared two courses on Hand-Back Requirements.

One based on the A-30 Montréal project.

A proper benchmark.

And one based on Pūhoi to Warkworth.

A real case to understand what happens when the requirements are less clear, the disengagement period is too short, and too many issues are left to future agreement between parties who may not agree on anything when the time comes.

The point is simple.

You can keep pretending hand-back is something for the future.

Or you can learn how to read it, challenge it and improve it before the damage is done.

Because the people who understand hand-back are rarely the loudest in the room.

But they are usually the ones who see the train coming.

The two courses are below.

If you work in PPPs, infrastructure, concessions, lenders’ advisory, public procurement, asset management or contract management, you should probably watch them.

Not because hand-back is sexy.

It isn’t.

But because being the person who sees the problem before everyone else does is one of the fastest ways to stop being invisible in the rooms that matter.

​The Room: 9 Lessons For A Successful Handback​

​The Room: 9 Lessons From A So-So Handback Regime​

Only until Sunday at 23:59 NZ time, you can get them for $79.90 each.

After that, the price increases to $129.90.

​The Room: 9 Lessons For A Successful Handback​

​The Room: 9 Lessons From A So-So Handback Regime​

And of course, both courses are included in your subscription to The Room.

Which is only $129.90.

You can do the math now.

Or you can wait until Monday…

And lose the deal.

​The Room​

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