Integrated project delivery is designed for collaboration from the commencement of a project. The uniting of owner, architect, and contractor on a level playing field is conducive to quality delivery. This triad branches out even further when subcontractors and consultants are brought into the equation. The fundamentals of this process ensure maximum efficiency and successful project delivery from all parties involved. More details and a case study of Caltrans District 7 HQ after the break.
Legal Relationship The legal relationship within the IPD structure is a shared risk/reward model – all parties are equally vested. In the traditional practice, parties are quite often at opposite ends of the spectrum, which results in targeting blame when issues arise. In order to streamline project delivery and ensure quality and efficiency, having everyone share in the responsibility is crucial. While liabilities and independent insurance tangents are still present in a technical sense, the antagonistic aspect is eliminated when everybody is vested in the success of the project. Significant cost savings can be achieved through reduced involvement with lawyers and arbitrating processes as this is all achieved through the collaborative problem solving process. Quite often all parties come together to form a single legal entity for the duration of the project.
Management Committee Management through committee within the IPD process is quite often approached through diplomatic avenues. The flow of decision making is not necessarily hierarchical, rather collaborative management that takes into account multiple parties expertise in order to achieve optimal solutions. In terms of efficiency of flow of decision making, all major players are typically housed within the same building/office for the duration of the project. This minimizes the decision making timeline, as everyone is readily accessible and management can take place under one roof. When problems arise, a democratic structured workflow enables optimization, quick turnaround, and rapid implementation into a fluid yet precise schedule.
