Adopting of PCM to improve General Contracting: the Italian Case

Since 2001 Italy has interpreted in an original (but somehow awkward) way the third type of European tender procedure, introducing (through law 443 known as “legge obiettivo”) the role of “contraente generale”, improperly translated as general contractor. As the first case study suggests the Italian way, compared with what the best European practice proposes, lacks a clear transfer of risks and allocation of tasks. After a brief analysis of the alternatives, the authors suggest how to improve the Italian practice (according to the European directives) and make it fit better with the ppp approach which is the correct framework for the “contraente generale” variant. Both clients and contractors should adopt project-construction management (pcm) services to assure the effectiveness of all phases of the delivery process.