In the second quarter of 2025, we decided to launch our Public–Private Partnership (PPP) business. It came from two realizations. First, PPPs were suddenly everywhere in the Middle East. Governments were using them to deliver the huge projects in their national plans. Second, we looked at our 25 years of experience at Construction Management Associates and thought: "Wait, most of what we already do fits perfectly into this world."

So we did what any new business line would do: we learned. We dug into the PPP space, figured out which services made sense for us, updated our website to show what we could offer, and started building lists of PPP developers, advisors, lenders, and public institutions.

As we explored all the possible roles in a PPP project, one kept standing out to us: the Lender’s Technical Advisor (LTA). The more we learned about it, the more familiar it felt. The role needed people who understood design, construction, finance, risk, and could explain complex issues clearly. That was our wheelhouse.

In the LTA role, we’d be working with whichever organization was financing the project. Sometimes that would be a consortium delivering the project. Other times it would be a development bank. Different clients, different projects, but the same goal: give lenders confidence that everything was on track.

And the LTA job itself breaks down into three straightforward phases.

Phase 1: Technical Due Diligence. This is the “before the money is released” phase. Our job is basically to help the lender answer: Does this project actually make sense? We’d review the design, dig into the financial model, check environmental and social risks, and generally make sure the project was ready for financial close. Some clients wanted a quick check, others wanted a deep dive. This usually would take between two and six months and relied on our design and finance experts.

Phase 2: Construction Monitoring. Once construction starts, our role shifts. We would visit the site once every quarter and report back to the lender. We’re checking things like: Are there delays? Is the quality acceptable? Are costs changing? Any environmental issues? We’re not there full time, just periodic check-ins to make sure there are no surprises. This phase runs all the way through testing and commissioning and is mostly driven by our construction specialists.