Yes, but you have to go back to the fundamentals. Look at PPP as a formulation in the dynamics of the state, market and society. Regretably, most of the consultants out there are peddlers of empirics. They move with a little box of ’models’ from project to project. It is a sad situation.

From a strictly legal standpoint (Brazilian Legal Experience), it would be possible to convert the construction project into a PPP mode project, as long as such project has not yet been awarded to a private contractor (e.g. if the Government starts building a water treatment station and then decides to award the remaining part of the construction to a public contractor under PPP mode).

The main change from the conversion would be that the water treatment station would have to be temporarily transferred from the Government to the private contractor for a given amount of time in order to enable the latter to charge a monthly public compensation from the former.

Under a traditional construction model, the Government would have to pay all the amount due to the private contractor when the latter finishes and delivers the construction project. In this sense, the PPP model for construction serves in Brazil to allow the Government to pay the private contractor in installments (monthly public compensation) ranging from 5 to 35 years (minimum amd maximum timeframe for PPP agreements under Brazilian Law), whereas the construction model provides for a payment schedule according to the development of the works limited to a maximum of 5 years (in theory).

In Brazil it is possible as long as the limits of the project are redefined, with the specifications due for the opening of a partnership call. More or less like a public competition .