TERMS OF REFERENCE

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR FEASIBILITY AND ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENT, DESIGN OF WASH FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION IN SELECTED TOWNS IN ASHANTI REGION (GHANA)

          A. Introduction to WSUP and the Consultancy Assignment

Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) is a not-for-profit company that helps transform cities to benefit the millions who lack access to water and sanitation.

We were created in 2005 as a response to the unprecedented urban explosion that has left cities unable to provide basic services, such as access to toilet or drinking water, in low-income communities. We work in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, supported by an office in the UK. Since inception we have helped over 29 million people access improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services.

In Ghana, WSUP has implemented programs in Kumasi, Sunyani, Accra, and Tamale, as well as multiple adjacent peri-urban areas. For more information on WSUP's vision and approach, see www.wsup.com.

Sustainability remains a challenge for water supply systems and sanitation service facilities in Ghana particularly in peri urban, small towns and schools resulting in non-functionality of most of the existing facilities in schools and communities and others needing repairs. WSUP, with support from its partners, is implementing a project, entitled Improving access to unserved low-income communities and schools in selected urban areas in Ashanti Region through communal water supply and sanitation systems. The overall objective is to provide safe water supply and school WASH facilities in three (3) low-income communities in the Ashanti Region with effective community management model to ensure sustainable service delivery.

This will be done through the construction of new community water systems and school WASH facilities run under financially sustainable management models. We intend to build community resilience through engagement and hygiene campaigns and training of community and school facility managers.

WSUP will work in three (3) out of the six selected communities after the feasibility study in the proposed 6 communities, to provide access to safe and affordable water supply and school sanitation facilities. These communities are evolving from rural communities to small towns and peri urban areas. The nature of the communities means that rural water systems and sanitation facilities that once served them are no longer adequate to address their water and sanitation demands. Diseases related to inadequate WASH remain among the community’s most serious public health problems, and the associated impacts on economic productivity and children’s cognitive development are likely to have profoundly negative impacts on national development.

There is therefore the need to conduct feasibility studies in the proposed communities, and further undertake robust engineering designs, procurement of a contractor(s) and supervision of works to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of water service delivery and school WASH infrastructure in each community.

The service of a consultant and/or agency is therefore required to undertake detailed designs of appropriate water supply schemes and school WASH facilities, considering the needs and limitations of the communities, in each of the proposed beneficiary communities, prepare tenders and contract documents, facilitate the procurement process leading to selection of contractors and supervise the selected contractors to deliver the proposed water supply systems and school WASH facilities and train facility managers within the project timelines.

Proposed Communities for the Assignment

        B. Objective of the Consultancy

The objective of the assignment is to design water supply systems and school WASH facilities in accordance with Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) standards, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and Ghana Education Service (GES) guidelines and regulations towards ensuring sustainable and affordable water supply and school sanitation facilities to the beneficiary communities and schools.

The overall objective of the project is to provide improved water supply through the construction of mechanized piped water systems and WASH blocks with 14-seater pour flush toilets to 3 no. communities and schools supervised under a financially sustainable community and school management model. Community engagement and sensitization campaigns will be undertaken to educate the communities on hygiene and the importance of paying for improved water and sanitation services, thereby increasing willingness to pay for water and sanitation services to ensure consistent operations and sustainable water and sanitation service delivery. Project stakeholders will include community leaders, community groups, students and teachers, municipal assembly officials and regional Community Water, Sanitation Agency office (CWSA) and the respective district education officials.

The service of a consultant is therefore required to conduct feasibility and eligibility assessment studies based on agreed criteria and recommend 3 communities out of the proposed 6 communities as project beneficiary communities. Undertake detailed designs of appropriate water supply schemes and school WASH blocks, considering the needs and limitations of the communities, in each of the selected beneficiary communities, prepare tenders and contract documents, facilitate the procurement process leading to selection of contractors and supervise the selected contractors to deliver the proposed water supply systems and school WASH blocks within the project timelines and to acceptable quality standards.

Tasks:

Task 1: Inception Activities, and Eligibility Assessment; Feasibility study in Proposed Communities (approx. 20 days)

The consultant will present a brief preliminary report not more than 5 pages to the client within 5 calendar days of the contract signing. The report shall detail the understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology (data collection, analysis process and tools and engagement of stakeholders), team composition with clear roles and responsibilities and the plan of action for accomplishing the task. The preliminary report should also provide summarized preliminary findings based on the following tasks:

1. A review of key project documents (e.g. project agreement, existing baseline on the communities, existing WSUP designs for WASH blocks and piped supplies)
2. Community entry and district Assembly visits and engagements.
3. Carry out a social, economic, cultural, political, and geophysical analysis of proposed communities to inform the design required for a sustainable ground water supply service. Conduct water quality tests (bacteriological and chemical) on existing water sources in the communities.
4. Undertake baseline and technical feasibility studies for each town including collection of data and analysis on the following areas: 
   • Hydrogeology
   • Water resources
   • Demand modelling report

• During the studies the consultant is expected to refer to existing data and conduct a desk review of any studies on the location.

1. Production of a feasibility report, including recommendations on the suitable communities for onward implementation.

The project will target 6 communities in the Ashanti Region at the feasibility and eligibility assessment stage and select 3 communities for the implementation phase.

The consultant is also required to undertake an assignment to assess all the proposed 6 communities on the viability and suitability of provision of water systems and school WASH blocks in the respective communities which will eventually lead to the recommendation and selection of 3 communities for project implementation.

The Consultant shall be guided but not limited to the following set of criteria and develop a comprehensive scoring matrix in arriving at recommendation and final selection of the beneficiary communities for approval by WSUP.

• Funder’s criteria and requirements.
• Availability of feasible water sources
• Community capacity and enabling environment
• Potential coverage
• Willingness to pay for improved water services
• Existing community management capacity
• Percentage of the population that consumes water from improved sources
• Incidence of water-borne diseases due to the consumption of existing water sources
• Gender and disability inclusiveness
• Existence of community-based organizations to support WASH promotion.

To undertake this activity, the consultant shall obtain all relevant documents from WSUP, CWSA and the District Assemblies.

Task 2: Designing the piped water systems,  school WASH blocks and associated  financial management models (approx... 10 days)

Following completion of task 1 and the final selection of the intervention communities, the consultant will be expected to design the water systems.

The consultant shall carry out the following activities under task 2.

1. Supervise drilling of boreholes
2. Prepare detailed engineering designs for the sanitation blocks in three (3) communities - to be used for construction.
3. Preparation of drawings of layouts, designs of public standpipes and ancillary works which will include pump houses. For each of the three (3) communities - documents to be used for construction.
4. Production of detailed bill of quantities and specifications for each system (hard and soft copies). The soft copies of the Bill of Quantities shall be in MS Excel.
5. Organize a series of community and district stakeholder reviews of the respective designs, drawings and layouts for comments and inputs.
6. Prepare a financial model (for each of the 6 infrastructures) that details projected revenue and O&M costs over a 5-year period to establish if revenues generated will be adequate for O&M of the facility.
7. Prepare instructions as a manual for the operations and maintenance of the facilities

Task 2.1 General Consideration for School WASH facilities

Facilities provided must have appropriate dimensions and features for young children and address gender needs especially of adolescent girls. Facilities must encourage hygienic behaviour in children as agents of change for their families and their communities. Facilities provided are adequate and meet the needs of all pupils irrespective of age, gender or physical disability and are appropriately located to ensure security, provide privacy and be environmentally friendly.

Other Things to be considered in the design of school WASH facilities:

1. A maximum of 50 pupils will use one drop hole/toilet cubicle.
2. Separate cubicles will be provided for boys and girls toilets.
3. Provision of urinals for each for boys and girls.
4. Water for hand washing will be available within each toilet facility.
5. Changing room for adolescent girls will be provided in each toilet block for girls. Changing rooms will have (running) water, mirrors, and hooks in the walls for hanging apparel and a disposal chamber to dispose of used sanitary items
6. Toilets for children will be appropriately sized to ensure the children are comfortable and feel safe in the use of the toilet. Footrests for squatting units will be appropriately sized and positioned for age and sex.
7. Toilet cubicle doors will have bolts and be boltable from inside.
8. Toilets should be located at reasonable distances to the school buildings for ease of access by children, especially the younger ones while still meeting the privacy demands and protecting children against violence.
9. Provision of separate cubicles for both female and male teachers.
10. Toilets will be hygienic to use and easy to clean and will have a cleaning and        maintenance schedule in place.
11. Provision of separate standpipe with tap away from the schools to provide access to water. Borehole siting should ensure adequate distance from the toilet sub structure to avoid contamination.

The designs shall be done in accordance with CWSA, MMDAs and GES guidelines with the following additions and modifications.

• Provide adequate storage for continuous supply of water
• Cubicle distribution ratio, male: female should be 2: 3
• The facility should be disability user friendly
• 80% of the cubicles should be squatting.
• Integrated and use of rainwater harvesting facilities at the storage points should be considered.

Task 3: Prepare and lead tendering process (approx. 10 days)

1. Finalize the preparation of all tender documents for the hiring of a contractors (firm) for the borehole drilling and development, as well as the construction of associated piped water networks and ancillary works.
2. Finalize the preparation of all tender documents for the hiring of contractors (firm) for construction of school WASH facilities, including final drafting in consultation with WSUP contacts
3. Facilitate the procurement of contractors.
4. An evaluation report of tenders received will be submitted to WSUP for review and approval.

Task 4: Construction supervision

1. Supervising the contractors throughout the construction process to ensure that all design requirements and specifications are complied with.
2. Organize and preside over site meetings
3. Provide WSUP and stakeholders with monthly reports on the detailed progress of work specifying any current issues and risks to completion on time and within budget
4. Assess construction work, agree corrections where necessary and certify contractor’s payment requests on work done in consultation with WSUP.
5. Conduct post construction water quality tests for both community water systems and school WASH facilities.
6. Ensure that fully completed and functional limited mechanized water systems and school WASH facilities are handed over to the project stakeholders and the Community and school facility management committees.
7. Prepare and submit a final report per community including steps taken, infrastructure designs/layouts, photos of completed infrastructure, management committee contacts, and overview of challenges. 

Task 5: Form and train community and school facility management committees (approx. 5 days)

1. The consultant will facilitate the formation of community and school management committees in each of the three communities to oversee the management of the water systems and school WASH blocks.
2. The selection and confirmation of members should be done in line with CWSA guidelines and criteria for community management schemes and Ghana Education Service guidelines and criteria.
3. Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for management by the  community management committees.
4. The consultant is required to prepare training materials and conduct training for all community and school management members, district water and sanitation team members, the district education officers, students and water vendors selected to man the standpipes.
   1. Training materials will incorporate the O&M manual produced in task 2, and SOPs produced in task 5.
5. The consultant shall prepare and submit a training report 3 calendar days after the training event.

       ​C. Key Outputs

Key deliverables for the consultancy are provided below:

1. Reports: Inception, technical feasibility, eligibility assessment and design reports

• Inception report describing methodology, team composition and workplan for completion of the tasks
• Comprehensive feasibility report including baseline data,
• Eligibility assessment report including a report on the selection process and analysis shall be prepared and submitted to WSUP and other key stakeholders for review and approval.
• detail of engineering designs, drawings, and layouts for the water systems and school WASH facilities in the selected three (3) communities
• Bill of quantities for tender and specifications for water systems and school WASH facilities.
• All documents should be in Word format, all tables of quantities and costs should also be in Excel format and PDF versions of designs and layouts. Auto card drawing versions of designs should also be submitted.

1. Document package: Tender dossier

• Complete tender documents (hard and soft copy) - which must comply with the public procurement act of Ghana (ACT 663). Including the following (not exhaustive)
  • Instructions, Specifications, Bill of Quantities
  • Draft Contract and Forms of Agreement
  • Drawings, designs

1. Operations and Maintenance manual
   • Including SOPs
   • Facility management plan
   • O&M training manual
2. Report: Monthly supervision reports, and final completion report
   • Including site meeting notes, water quality testing results, issues, and mitigating actions
3. Report: Training and capacity building report

All reports shall be submitted in draft for review by Client. The consultant is expected to address all concerns raised by the parties before the report can be finalized and accepted.

      D. Client focal point

The contract manager for this work will be the WSUP Ghana Programme Lead. WSUP’s Country Manager has overall responsibility for WSUP’s Ghana’s programme.

      E. Assignment duration and approximate timing

The assignment is expected to commence in July 2022 through to July 2023, with all deliverables expected by June 2023.

1. Estimated Cost: GHS 260,000.00
2. Mode of Payment

WSUP will pay the consultant

• 20% Report 1(Preliminary/inception report and eligibility assessment report)
• 30% Report 2 (Feasibility and design report)
• 30% Report 3. (Contract documents, procurement, and supervision of contractors)
• 20% Report 4. (O&M manual, SOPs, training, and completion reports)