INFFEWS Benefit: Cost Analysis Tool: Guidelines

Introduction

These guidelines provide advice on the INFFEWS Benefit: Cost Analysis (BCA) Tool for projects related to urban water and green infrastructure. They are not a comprehensive guide to BCA. For that, we recommend several text books and practical guidelines prepared by various governments (see ‘Learning more’ at the end of this document).

These guidelines provide practical advice that will assist users to prepare BCAs of water related projects using the INFFEWS BCA Tool. Guidance is provided on exactly what information is needed, options for obtaining the required information, and standard values to use for particular parameters (e.g. the discount rate). The guidelines also explain the various types of sensitivity analysis that are built into the BCA Tool, pitfalls and errors to avoid, and the structure of the BCA Tool spreadsheet.

It is recommended that you read these guidelines in conjunction with the other two main documents that make up the INFFEWS BCA Tool: INFFEWS BCA Tool: Benefit: Cost Analysis and Strategic Decision Making for Water Sensitive Cities and the INFFEWS BCA Tool: User Guide (see Box 1).