A three-part series jointly authored by Sharpe Pritchard and Frontier Economics.
Third-party delivery models, including Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) and the Specified Infrastructure Projects Regulations (SIPR) framework, are changing how major water infrastructure is financed, built and operated. But when responsibility for an individual asset moves to a specialist provider, who manages the risks that remain across the wider water system?
In this three-part series, Sharpe Pritchard and Frontier Economics bring together legal and economic perspectives on water infrastructure risk allocation. The papers examine system resilience, the funding of retained responsibilities and the potential for broader third-party provider roles.
Paper 1: A risk left behind
Who manages system resilience in an unbundled water future? What happens if a strategic reservoir is delayed and the wider system faces a severe drought? This paper examines project risk, system resilience and the responsibilities that remain with the water company.
Paper 2: Funding the risk left behind
Regulatory options after unbundling in water. This paper considers how retained responsibilities and risks are recognised within regulatory and contractual arrangements, and when a material mismatch between responsibility and funding might require a response.
Paper 3: Moving the boundary on risk allocation
Future delivery models for CAPs and IPs in water. This paper explores whether earlier involvement, wider lifecycle responsibilities or portfolios of connected assets could bring more risk within a third-party provider’s control.
Joint authors
Steve Gummer
Partner, Sharpe Pritchard LLP
Emily Armstrong-Nielsen
Principal, Frontier Economics
Bridget Newman
Associate, Sharpe Pritchard LLP
