CoST is hinged on principles which include:

–     Governments are responsible for providing reliable and safe infrastructure which should in turn support sustainable economic growth and development.

 

–     Governments should be accountable because citizens have a right to know that their money is being used wisely. Therefore implementation of public construction projects should be sufficiently transparent for government to be held accountable.

 

–    Transparency improves governance – Public disclosure of information during the project cycle          can provide an effective way to improve value for money in construction by reducing opportunities for corruption and increasing scrutiny.

–    Transparency promotes investor confidence. Domestic and foreign direct investment is likely to be increased by transparency in the management of construction projects.

–     Multi-stakeholder cooperation reflects shared interest and responsibility, improves transparency and builds confidence that all points of view are being taken into account.

With regard to these principles, CoST encourages Procuring Entities (PEs) to disclose/make accessible relevant information about the purpose, scope, costs and execution of publicly-financed construction projects to the public in a timely and understandable manner so that the public can be informed and have a chance to interact with the relevant public authorities to seek more information and clarifications when and where appropriate.

The CoST initiative adds credibility to the information disclosed by engaging the services of an independent Assurance Team (AT) to validate the disclosed information.