Introduction
The Tanzania Roads Association (TARA), which is also a National Committee of the World Road Association (PIARC) under the Ministry of Works and Transport in Tanzania, in collaboration with the Tanzania Transportation Technology Transfer (TanT2 Centre), Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS), Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA), the International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva, the African Road Maintenance Funds Association (ARMFA), the Association of Southern Africa National Roads Agencies (ASANRA), and other local and international institutions, is organizing the Africa Regional Seminar on Performance-Based Contracts and Framework Agreements for Roads to be held from 12th – 14th December 2022 at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC), Arusha Tanzania.

The objective of the Regional Seminar is to raise awareness about the importance and benefits of performance-based contracts and framework agreements for roads, and facilitate the sharing of practitioners’ experiences and best practices.

The Seminar will be conducted back to back with the Africa Regional Workshop on Performance- Based Contracts and Framework Agreements for Roads. A three-day Regional Workshop, whose objective is to provide practitioners responsible for managing and maintaining road networks with sufficiently detailed tools, examples and practical knowledge for successfully implementing performance-based contracts and framework agreements for the roads for which they are responsible, will be held from 15th – 17th, December 2022. Only those participants who will attend the Africa Regional Seminar on Performance-Based Contracts and Framework Agreements for Roads to be held at the Arusha International Conference Centre, Arusha, Tanzania, from 12th – 14th, December 2022, will be allowed to participate in the Africa Regional Workshop on Performance- Based Contracts and Framework Agreements for Roads.

What is a Performance Based Contract?
The method of delivering road maintenance has progressively evolved. Historically, road agencies have moved from using in-house force account to traditional method-based maintenance contracting. Many countries are now heading towards performance-based contracting (PBC), an approach that has been deployed rapidly in the road sector in the past decade. However, while PBC offers a number of benefits for road agencies and road users, it is a relatively new approach and there are several aspects that need careful consideration to ensure that the goals of PBCs are fully achieved.

Performance-based contracts (PBC) differ significantly from method-based contracts that have been traditionally used to maintain roads. PBC is a type of contract in which payments for the management and maintenance of road assets are explicitly linked to the contractor successfully meeting or exceeding certain clearly defined minimum performance indicators. Such contracts could potentially include management of infrastructures and activities such as road works, drainage system, pavements, traffic and roadside assets, bridges, tunnels, traffic services, and emergency response.

In traditional method-based contracts, the road agency as a client normally specifies techniques, technologies, materials and quantities of materials to be used, together with the time during which the maintenance works should be executed. The payment to the contractor is based on the amount of inputs (e.g., cubic meters of asphalt concrete, number of working hours).

In performance-based contracting the client does not specify any method or material requirements (provided the country’s standards are met). Instead the client specifies performance indicators that the contractor is required to meet when delivering maintenance services.
According to the World Bank Standard Procurement Document for Output- and Performance-Based Road Contracts (2021),1 under the performance-based approach, the services to be provided by the Output- and Performance-Based Road Contract (OPBRC) is a form of PBC for which the World Bank has issued standard procurement documents.

Contractor go much beyond the mere execution of pre-defined physical works. The Contract covers an array of activities needed to achieve and maintain a certain Service Level for road users, including the design, construction, operation and maintenance, as well as several activities related to the management (including periodic evaluation) of the road network under contract. It includes carrying out Rehabilitation Works, Improvement Works, as well as Emergency Works needed to reinstate the Roads after damage has occurred as a result of natural phenomena (such as strong storms, flooding and earthquakes).

The PBC/OPBRC competitive procurement process results in a contractual relationship where payments are made for measured outputs instead of the traditional way where the measurement and payment reflect the quantity of input.

What is a Framework Agreement?

A Framework Agreement (FA) is an agreement with one or more firms, companies or businesses that establishes the terms and conditions that will govern any contract awarded under the Framework Agreement.

Framework Agreements may be used to retain one or more qualified firms for multiple services that: (i) are similar in nature and complexity; (ii) require similar qualifications; and/or (iii) are individually relatively small (economy of scale or scope)

As the services carried out under a framework agreement are more specifically determined during the call-off process, in most cases, it may not be practical to request a fully priced bid in the Primary Procurement evaluation process.

At the Primary Procurement stage, the Employer’s Requirements normally provide the objectives, background information and as much information as practically possible on the planned services (such as expected scope, locations, typical estimated person-months requirements, qualifications requirements, expected typical deliverables) to enable firms to provide their technical proposals and rates for the services that may be required. The approach and methodology at the framework agreement level is to demonstrate the firms’ ability to carry out typical services to be called-off under the Framework Agreement, through separate Call-off Contracts.

For more details, please contact the Organizing Committee at the address below

Africa Regional Seminar and Workshop on Performance-Based Contracts (PBC) and Framework Agreements for Roads Organizing Committee  
C/O Tanzania Roads Association (TARA)
Msasani Towers -6th Floor Wing B    
P.O. Box 2028, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania          
Tel: +255 754 362157 /+255 713 336987 / +255 753 246 763
E-mail: info@tara.or.tz / hbishanga@yahoo.com / fabianlaurent05@gmail.com
Web site: www.tara.or.tz