Case Study: South Africa

The South African National Roads Agency, Ltd. (SANRAL) traditionally used ad-measurement-based, routine road maintenance (RRM) contracts to maintain its entire road network. Now it has modified these to reflect new social objectives and introduce a performance-based approach. While the objective of preserving effectively road assets assigned to the SANRAL is retained, it is now desired also to develop sustainable small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and affirmable business enterprises (ABEs) along its network.

To these ends:

Entry barriers for small contractors are maintained at low levels,

Provisions are made to reduce/eliminate exploitation of small contractors,

Skills training is provided.

The main contractor operates as a management contractor, while 80% and more of the work is executed by small contractors, belonging to Historically Disadvantaged Enterprises (HDEs) and SMMEs. The procurement process for works includes public advertisement, pre-qualification, adjudication and award. Specifications include the targeting of local labor and women. The main contractor bears the responsibility for training and mentoring the sub-contractors. During the past years, a considerable number of SMMEs were trained to establish successful and sustainable enterprises.

The new RRMs are “hybrid” contracts, as they combine performance items and traditional pay items. Each of the contracts covers approximately 200 km of national road network.

Assets and activities included in the RRM contract.
The scope of activities under the contract includes:

the crack sealing and patching of road pavements, minor repairs to concrete pavements and structures, cleaning of drainage structures;

repairing damaged fencing, road signs and guardrails;

clearing refuse and debris off the road;

maintenance of trees and shrubs, and mowing of grass;

eradication of weeds and alien vegetation, protection against wild fires, and providing emergency assistance.

The contract specifies works to be performed, and payments are based on executed measured works at the tendered rates. Typical traditional measurement and payment items are:

Pothole repair (however, the SANRAL does have 48 hour repair period after which penalties are applied),

Guard rail repair, etc.

For performance-based activities, minimum standards are set, and payment is made once the contractor has complied with these. Typical performance-based items include:

Grass cutting (no longer than 300 mm),

Side drain cleaning,

Road sign cleaning, etc.

The above division of activities into measurement-based and performance-based stems from SANRAL’s experience that contractors tend to protect themselves against risk in some activities (e.g. pothole repair under performance-based specifications) by increasing bid prices substantially, resulting in increased costs for the Agency.

In South Africa, unlike in Australia, periodic maintenance activities (i.e., reseal, overlays) are not included in RRM contracts. These contracts are scheduled separately by the SANRAL across its road network.

Supervision
Consulting engineers for the design and supervision of RRM contracts also tender for projects. A route manager carries out the site supervision. The route is inspected regularly to ascertain the presence of any hazard or damage to the road, for example potholes, debris on the road, drainage problems, damaged fencing, damaged road signs, animals on the road, and road safety issues in general.

Conclusion
RRM contracts ensure that the entire road network has the contractors responsible for the upkeep, maintenance, and emergency assistance. The apparent success of this type of contract as regards the state of the road network, as well as the development of small- and medium-scale contracting industry, has caught the attention of various countries.