Infrastructure Development Project Charter
This is a practical guide to building a project charter for an infrastructure development project — the short authorising document that names the sponsor, states the objective and gives the manager authority to run the project, adapted to the realities of delivering large public or private infrastructure.
What a Project Charter is
A project charter is the short authorising document that names the sponsor, states the objective and gives the manager authority to run the project. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Project Charter. On an infrastructure development project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for an Infrastructure Development project
Infrastructure Development projects live or die on delivering large public or private infrastructure. A well-built project charter gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how infrastructure development projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Purpose and business justification
- Objectives and success criteria
- High-level scope (in and out)
- Budget and timeline summary
- Key stakeholders and sponsor sign-off
Infrastructure Development-specific considerations
Tailor the project charter to the risks that most often derail infrastructure development projects:
- Long lead times
- Permits and land
- Cost inflation over long horizons
Example
On a real infrastructure development project, the project charter would be shaped by delivering large public or private infrastructure. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — long lead times, permits and land, cost inflation over long horizons — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.