The Economic Case

Overview

The Economic Case determines how the project will deliver on economic, social, and environmental objectives while achieving optimal value for money. It provides a structured process to identify, compare, and refine different approaches to water metering, demonstrating that a suitable range of options has been considered before selecting the preferred one.

The analysis should evaluate both financial and non-financial factors, balancing costs, benefits, and risks against sustainability, community outcomes, and environmental objectives. The result is a transparent and defensible recommendation of the option that provides the best overall public value.

The methodology shown below outlines the key steps in this assessment process — moving from exploring a long list of possibilities to confirming the preferred solution: 

Investment Objectives 

Investment Objectives describe what the project is trying to achieve, the outcomes that define success from an investment perspective. They link directly to the Strategic Case and express the benefits or changes the organisation wants to deliver.

In a water metering context, investment objectives might include reducing demand on the water network, enabling other forms of demand management, enhancing customer fairness, reducing network losses, or deferring costly capital upgrades. These objectives provide the benchmark for assessing how well each option performs.

Critical Success Factors

Critical Success Factors (CSFs) describe the essential conditions that must be met for the preferred option to succeed. They test whether shortlisted options are practical, achievable, and sustainable. For water metering, this typically means ensuring the solution aligns with council [JF2] objectives, delivers value for money, is compatible with existing assets and systems, is adaptable to future technology, and can be implemented confidently with minimal technical or supply chain risk.

The Other Business Cases