International Development & Humanitarian Infrastructure Planning Guide

Start with people, use and operating conditions

Record who the infrastructure is for, how many people will use it, whether the need is temporary, transitional or permanent, and what services must remain operational after handover.

Avoid starting with a supplier catalogue. Housing, clinics, classrooms and sanitation blocks can use similar structural systems while requiring very different privacy, hygiene, accessibility, fire, utility and maintenance outcomes.

• Population and user groups
• Expected service life
• Daily and peak occupancy
• Climate and hazards
• Accessibility and safeguarding needs
• Local operating and maintenance capability

Separate the programme into functional packages

Break the programme into housing, WASH and sanitation, health, education, administration, community facilities, recreation and support infrastructure. This makes it easier to define technical requirements and compare supplier capability without forcing every use into one standard box.

Where several packages share a manufacturing platform, standardise structure, openings, wet areas and service interfaces only where doing so does not compromise the actual use.

Define what is manufactured and what remains local

The manufactured package may include structural frames, wall and roof systems, internal finishes, doors, windows, electrical and plumbing preparation, fixtures and documentation. Foundations, external utilities, site drainage, roads, lifting, local installation, approvals and commissioning often remain local responsibilities.

A responsibility matrix is one of the simplest ways to prevent gaps between factory supply and site delivery.

Write climate, hazard and logistics into the brief

Country is not enough. Record wind or cyclone exposure, seismic requirements where applicable, heat, humidity, rainfall, salt exposure, flood risk, ground conditions, receiving port, inland road constraints, unloading capability and local storage.

Remote and island projects can fail because logistics and site interfaces were considered after product selection rather than before it.

Use recognised standards and the current donor rules

Humanitarian and development projects may be governed by programme-specific standards, donor requirements, local law and procurement rules. Check the current official sources that apply to the actual project rather than copying requirements from an unrelated tender.

Useful starting points include the Sphere / Humanitarian Standards Partnership resources for humanitarian quality and technical standards, UNHCR's Emergency Handbook for emergency-response guidance, UNICEF resources for WASH in emergencies, and the relevant procurement framework where a project is financed by an institution such as the World Bank.