Performance based routine maintenance contracting for low volume sealed roads

Abstract

Performance-based contracts are substitute to the conventional contracts used in the procurement of road maintenance, whereby the main emphasis is not only on contract management and maintenance, but also on all happenings associated with the management and evaluation of the road section under contract. The performance-based contractor is wholly accountable for the works required to achieve the obligatory service levels, durability and performance of the road over the contract period. The Roads 2000 Strategy (R2000) was conceptualized and implemented in central Kenya. The completed projects were required to be subjected to timely and continuous maintenance. In addition, the projects under phase two of the program incorporated three-year performance contracts for maintenance, that were to kickstart upon the completion of the construction phases. This study was aimed at evaluating the level and extent of maintenance planning and implementation on improved projects, and also the effectiveness of the embedded performance-based maintenance contracts in ensuring that prioritisation for maintenance was enhanced, and that acceptable service levels were maintained during the period the contracts were in effect, and drawing the lessons learnt. An overall assessment of the investment in maintenance of completed projects under the Roads 2000 program was carried out, from the time the initial projects were handed over for maintenance, up until when the phase two projects were completed and handed over. Correlation was drawn between the previous efforts in maintenance prior to introduction of performance-based maintenance contracting, and thereafter. It was observed that performance-based contracts had an overall effect of increasing the road lengths that were maintained, and also led to an increase on the level of prioritisation for maintenance. There was an observed increase on the budgetary allocation per unit length of road per year with the introduction of performance based routine maintenance. However, monitoring of set service levels was observed to be still an area that needed to be improved during the management of performance-based contracts.