SIMON Corbell and Andrew Barr have joined up to let us know they shortlisted two large groups of companies that are not bidding to build and operate Canberra’s courts out of the goodness of their hearts.

The next stage of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement process for the ACT Law Courts project will see a battle royale between:

• CAPITAL COURTS – including: Richard Crookes Constructions, Brookfield Johnson Controls, Amber Infrastructure and Bates Smart Architects with Katsieris Origami Architecture.
• JURIS PARTNERSHIP – including: Laing O’Rourke Construction, Programmed Facility Management, Macquarie Capital Group and Lyons Achitecture.

“We are delighted with the interest this project has generated and are confident that both of the shortlisted consortia will produce exciting and innovative solutions as part of the RFP process,” Simon said.

“I am assured that the emphasis we have placed on heritage, urban design and sustainability has been understood and embraced by the shortlisted consortia and we will continue to drive these aspirations throughout the next phase of procurement.”

Andrew Barr said the ACT Law Courts project is the first major ACT Government infrastructure project to be delivered by a PPP, and that during consultation on The Partnerships Framework, the primary request from industry was that only two parties be shortlisted for procurements.

“The ACT Government is committed to reducing the burden on industry wherever we can and ensuring that the ACT continues as a place where government and industry can work collaboratively to deliver value and excellence throughout our infrastructure and investment program. That’s why we have shortlisted two consortia to progress through to the RFP,” Mr Barr said.

Selection of a successful bidder and finalisation of PPP contracts for the ACT Law Courts projects will occur during 2015 with construction scheduled to commence in early 2016.