How a road agency can transform force account road maintenance to contracting

Recent international trends in the reform of road management, point to the need to transform force account road maintenance services. With Force Account, funding tends to be erratic; management of equipment and its support facilities inadequate, planning, supervision and execution require high standards of staffing, quality control may be poor; and reporting systems weak. Contracted works have the advantages that payment of work is done to specification, rates are known making budgeting and planning easier, risk is transferred from the Public Sector to the Private Sector, and the profit motive tends to promote efficiency and reduce unnecessary waste. An International Labour Organization study in Cambodia found that contracted road maintenance is 24 percent cheaper than force account and Talvitie found contracting out gave 5-15 percent in efficiency gains. Many countries have already gone through this process and every country has a different experience. This paper brings a systematic approach with a focus on situation analysis, identification of options, developing transformation strategy, addressing social issues, management options, and monitoring efficiency and effectiveness of the program.