A Planning and Technical Bulletin 

Originally published by the Planning and Project Management Unit

of the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture, 1982.

Introduction

How does your organization determine the feasibility of a proposed project?  How do you inform consultants about the scope of work that you would want accomplished in your feasibility study?  The answer to both of these questions is found in preparing Terms of Reference. 

Terms of Reference are a specific set of ordered instructions that clearly indicate to a consultant the issues that should be addressed in your feasibility study.

These detailed guidelines will document your group's expectations of the feasibility study.

Terms of Reference are also: 

• The basis upon which consultants prepare proposals and estimate the cost of their services to you; as such, these Terms should form part of your contract with consultants.

• The information that you provide to granting agencies to enable assessment of your application according to grant criteria.

• The means by which your study team will monitor the progress of the study.

Terms of Reference should cover all aspects of the study such as the scope, data needs, analysis and recommendations.  They also include information on the management of the study and the final presentation format you require for the study.

Role of the Study Team

Once the need for a planning study has been established, a study team begins the task of defining the purpose of the study, obtaining community support for the study and locating the financial and professional resources needed to carry out the study.  However, often the most demanding job of the study team is to write the Terms of Reference for the study.

The process of writing the Terms of Reference is the only way that a study team can effectively manage the production of the study.  Too often, a group undertakes a study and hires a consultant before they are sure of what they need.  Hence, they usually receive a study that satisfies someone else's expectations.

 
Who Uses the Terms of Reference?

The consulting firm which you contact needs very specific Terms of Reference in order to be able to prepare a proposal on how they would carry out the study and to estimate accurately what the study will cost to produce.

The sources of funding need to know exactly what your proposed study will involve in order to determine if it is eligible for funding.

Carefully prepared and appropriately detailed Terms of Reference will help you and the other study team members to monitor the progress of the study. They will also help you to evaluate the work during the preparation of the study, the final draft stage and when the final report is complete.

How to Use this Checklist

This checklist will help you and your study team to prepare complete Terms of Reference.  All of the items on this list should be addressed in the Terms of Reference whether your community is small or large.  If you answer "no" to any of these questions, it means that something has been left out and that you should think about how to add this particular item to your Terms of Reference.

This checklist is to help ensure the clarity and completeness of your Terms.  It is not intended to expand the scope of your study and, hence, increase its cost.

NEXT: A Checklist for Terms of Reference