ConsensusDocs announced in December 2019 the publication of a new industry standard public-private partnership (P3) agreement. The ConsensusDocs 900 Standard P3 Agreement and General Conditions is a pioneering document from ConsensusDocs that represents a vast
improvement of P3 agreements.

Consistent with the ConsensusDocs philosophy, the document provides a fair and balanced standard for a P3 project to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain (DBFOM) between an Owner and Concessionaire.

This new agreement is part of the ConsensusDocs Public-Private-Partnership (P3) 900-series. P3 contracts typically involve complex 200-plus page contracts that obfuscate and inappropriately shift risk. The new ConsensusDocs Standard P3 Agreement provides a fair off-
the-shelf solution for P3 projects that can be modified to meet specific project needs. This will significantly lower the transactional costs for small and medium sized P3 projects to both create a contract as well as assess the risk involved for pursuing potential P3 projects.

Ernest C Brown, a San Francisco-based Construction lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, who chaired the ConsensusDocs P3 Working Group commented “Rather than create a P3 agreement from scratch, the new ConsensusDocs 900 P3 Standard Agreement provides a sophisticated and flexible contractual solution that users can modify based upon the specific needs.” The P3 is an innovative contracting vehicle that offers a better mechanism to consider a project’s life-cycle costs and flexibility in financing for the project.” Brian Perlberg, Executive Director and Senior Counsel of ConsensusDocs added, “P3 projects are often clouded by rampant risk shifting that ultimately hurts project outcomes. At the very least, the new ConsensusDocs P3 agreement creates a fair baseline for owners, financiers, builders, and
designers alike to begin a real conversation to contract utilizing public-private partnerships.”

ConsensusDocs are the only contracts written by 40 leading design and construction industry organizations. With a catalog of 100+ contract documents addressing all methods of project delivery, ConsensusDocs contracts incorporate fair risk allocation and best practices to represent the project’s best interests. The Coalition collectively represents over 300,000 design professionals, owners, contractors, subcontractors and sureties (DOCS). For more information, please visit www.ConsensusDocs.org or call 866-925-DOCS (3627).