Republic of Albania UKT Tirana Water LENDER S MONITOR TERMS OF REFERENCE

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1 Republic of Albania UKT Tirana Water LENDER S MONITOR TERMS OF REFERENCE 1. BACKGROUND Ujesjelles Kanalizime Tirane ( UKT, the Company and Client ) is a municipal utility company which provides water supply and sewage for the municipalities of Tirana, Vora and Kamza. The Company is majority owned by the Municipality of Tirana with 82.5 per cent. The Municipality of Kamza owns 14.6 per cent and the Municipality of Vora owns the remaining 2.9 per cent. The Company serves around 0.7 million customers. UKT was established in In 2016, the Company operated the water distribution network of 1,800 km covering approximately 200 thousand of end users (households and companies) and wastewater network of 590 km. The Company produced 106 million m 3 of potable water but the annual volume of water billed amounts to 31 million m 3. The existing UKT Tirana service area is supplied from different sources of water sources: natural springs originating in the mountains, a large impound reservoir, groundwater wells and river pumping stations. The Company s water network is in a poor condition and is characterised by a high rate of failures disrepair which causes an unacceptably high level of interruptions in water supply (on average 8 hours per day) and poor water quality. In addition, poor infrastructure results in high physical water losses in the distribution network (nonrevenue water accounted for 68 per cent as of 2015). The Client supported by the Municipality of Tirana (the Municipality ) approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD, or the Bank ) with a request to finance priority investments that will improve the municipal water services in Tirana. As a result, the Bank has signed a loan of up to EUR 15 million to UKT to finance the following components the Project : Component 1: construction of a new water pipeline that will transfer water from Bovilla Water Treatment Plant to the western part of the City of Tirana by gravity. Currently, UKT's customers in the western part of Tirana are served by depleting, pumped groundwater supplies; and, Component 2: extension of the capacity of Bovilla Water Treatment Plant ("WTP") from around 57,000 million m 3 /year to 76,000 million m 3 / year. Currently, the water flows by gravity, from the dam at Bovilla Reservoir an abundant resource - to Bovilla WTP through a transmission pipe which will soon be duplicated. The duplication of the transmission pipe will be financed by the Italian Corporation, and would allow more raw water to be fed to the WTP. 1

2 The duplication of the transmission line is an associated component of the Project as Components 1 & 2 will rely on the additional capacity provided by it. The Project aims to assist the Company in: i) providing a more resilient water system, reaching its objective of providing a 24 hour water supply by 2021, ii) reducing the Company's operational costs by supplying water by gravity versus the high cost of pumping groundwater, and iii) increasing sustainability by removing/reducing the Company s reliance on depleting and polluted wells to supply Berxull. The works contracts to be financed from the proceeds of the Bank s loan in accordance with Albanian National Procurement Law. 2. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this assignment are to assist the EBRD to monitor implementation of the contracts related to different components of the Project and to ensure that investments are implemented within time and budget, and in accordance with the Project legal agreements. To this end, the Consultant will identify any key problems which may threaten implementation and advise the Bank, on remedial measures so that corrective action can be taken. 3. SCOPE OF WORK The Consultant should provide the following services: 3.1 Implementation Arrangements The Consultant will review the implementation arrangements in place to ensure that they are sufficient to support successful implementation. To this end, the Consultant will observe, assess and report on: a) the overall performance of the project management team and site staff, commenting on the effectiveness of co-ordination between and performance of all project parties, including consultants, contractors, suppliers and other parties involved in the implementation of the investments, commenting on compliance with their respective obligations and duties; b) the project implementation arrangements including the project organisation, staffing, project management systems, arrangements for construction, identification and management, and contract management; c) quality control/assurance systems, confirming that there is no evidence of any material problems with current or expected future quality and that the investments are likely to meet the specified technical performance requirements at the date of operation. 3.2 Progress and costs against schedule and budget The Consultant will review, evaluate and comment on progress and costs against schedule and budget. To this end, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks: 2

3 a) monitor and report on project progress including progress in design, procurement and construction. Verify and confirm that an adequate progress control system is in place and functioning properly. Report on actual progress versus the original plan. Highlight the implications for meeting the overall target completion dates and confirm whether or not dates and deadlines are likely to be kept/achieved. Where possible provide quantitative measurements (e.g. per cent complete ) and use appropriate presentation formats (e.g. tables, Gantt charts, S-curves, etc.); b) monitor and report on project cost. Confirm that adequate cost control systems are in place and working properly. Present a cost report showing the original budget, revised outcome estimate and variance for each budget item, highlight any actual or expected variance in the overall Project cost and confirm whether or not the Project is likely to become operational within the given budget. An appropriate presentation would be a table format with columns for: i) item; ii) budget; iii) estimated final cost; and iv) variance; c) review, evaluate and comment on any progress reports as well as other relevant technical material prepared by the project parties. 3.3 Project documentation and reporting The Consultant will review and comment on all relevant project documentation and reports. To this end, the Consultant will: a) review procurement documentation for contracts. Monitor payments for works, goods and services. b) Review the procurement carried out through shopping method to ensure that value for money has been achieved and that the contracts have not been artificially split for the purpose of circumventing the application of more competitive tendering procedures. c) confirm that all relevant Project documents, including as built drawings, manuals, etc., have been properly assembled, collated, indexed and handed over; d) review, on a sample basis, payment certificates, test results, and other relevant project documentation. Compare the project documentation with the actual works carried out on site, as necessary. Special attention shall be to given contracts awarded through shopping method where the sampling shall cover at least 50% of all payments certificates. 3.4 Matters of material interest The Consultant will alert the EBRD to any emerging problems, be they of a contractual, technical, or financial nature, which have the potential to jeopardise the achievement of the project objectives and advise the EBRD on timely appropriate corrective action. In particular, the Consultant will advise the EBRD on any proposed waivers or amendments to legal agreements and interpret any other matters of material interest to the EBRD. If necessary, the Consultant will assist the EBRD in negotiations to achieve the required corrective action. 3.5 Project Completion 3

4 The Consultant will countersign the Borrower s notice to the EBRD that Project Completion as stipulated in the Loan Agreement has been met, thereby certifying that all performance tests have been completed and passed successfully. The Consultant will monitor the start-up period and advise the EBRD on remedial measures to be undertaken in case any problems of contractual, technical or financial character arise. 4. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS AND REPORTING The assignment will have a duration of 24 months. It is anticipated that the Consultant will visit Project locations as and when required, but at least quarterly throughout the project implementation, to conduct site inspections and hold discussions with project partners, as necessary. The assignment will require quarterly visits approximately to the project sites over the duration of the period of contracting (minimum 4 visits per year). i) Progress reports At the end of each field mission, the Consultant will provide a field mission reports by in English and Albanian language (using Microsoft software). These reports should provide an overview of the Consultant s key comments with respect to the tasks described in the scope of work above. The Consultant will also produce Working Papers on specific topics as and when required. During the construction phase, the Consultant will provide a written quarterly reports addressing: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Project progress versus the overall Programme Cost incurred versus budget Quality and performance Payments and cash flow Claims; and Matters of material interest. ii) Project completion report The Consultant will provide a Project Completion Report in English and Albanian language (1 hard copy plus softcopy using Microsoft software in each language), within 1 month of completion of all the contracts. iii) Ad-hoc information In addition, the Consultant will provide the EBRD with a range of information on an ad-hoc basis, as required by project circumstance, including brief inspection reports and any other documents the EBRD may require in association with project implementation matters. iv) Visibility measures Given the assignment is funded through the EBRD s donor funded technical cooperation programme, the Consultant will be required to support the client to ensure 4

5 visibility of these resources. Support on these visibility aspects can be obtained from the Bank s Communications Department. Measures could include but not be limited to: All documents produced by the Consultant should mention donor support and bear the logo of the donor, when appropriate. Donor support to the project should be acknowledged in any public communication (press releases, launch of facilities) Local representatives of donors should be invited to any public event organised to promote the project (press conferences, inaugurations, possibly stakeholder participation programmes) 5. CONSULTANT PROFILE The Consultant shall be responsible for the mobilisation of qualified engineers, technicians and other professional staff with proven experience in the administrative management, procurement, design and supervision of similar construction works and acquiring the equipment for the projects in comparable climatic and geological conditions. It is anticipated that the Consultant s team shall include the following expertise with short-term support as required in other disciplines: Project Manager International Engineer/ Water Specialist Mechanical Engineer Procurement Specialist Auditor Junior Water Expertise Experts shall have: a) a minimum of 7 years of professional experience in similar positions (except for the Junior Water Expertise) as the ones they are nominated in the contract b) relevant university degree and hold the necessary professional qualifications and certificates to enable them to exercise the role they are nominated in the contract c) proficiency in Albanian and English d) the needed IT skills to enable them to perform the role they are nominated in the contract 5