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As developments in communication technology evolve, the desire to reduce inefficiencies in the design and construction process increase. Led by client groups frustrated with the present system of adversarial relationships and industry service providers looking for ways to match their financial exposure with increased profitability, efforts are being made to encapsulate the idea of integrated project delivery in new forms of contracting.
New Relationships Require New Contracts
In the past, two-party contracts have existed between the cleint and a single entity authorized to produce the project. Currently no accepted standard agreements that refabricate the contractual rights and obligations of more than two parties into a single agreement exist. As the blurring of the line between design and construction increases through building information modeling and other technological advances, the effort to include separate design, construction, and ownership entities in one project-specific, contractual arrangement appears to be moving to fruition.
Relationship contracting, where separate entities agree to share risks and rewards in an interactive design and construction effort, challenges the U.S. legal system’s allocation of responsibility and liability and the insurance industry’s reliance on such certainty. In addition, the financial industry’s method of structuring loans and protecting the lender’s investment is disrupted by an integrated project delivery system and contract that does away with the accepted system of establishing fault.
It now appears that within a year, clients will have significant new choices in restructuring how they contract for the design and construction of their projects.
ConsensusDOCS Includes Tri-Party Agreement
Part of the initial release of documents and forms by the industry coalition program, ConsensusDOCS, will be a transformative agreement called the “Tri-Party Collaborative Agreement.” The integrated project delivery agreement form will have three parties sign the same contract and create a core team. This core group convenes to make project-specific decisions. A tri-party agreement is basic to one form of integrated project delivery—the alliance contracting process. By creating a contractually obligated project core team, which may include key specialty contractors and consultants, consensus decisions during the design process and throughout construction should focus on the best interests of the project so that the three parties benefit by keeping the project on time and under budget.
According to Brian Perlberg, AGC, Senior Counsel, Construction Law and Contract Documents:
"We’re taking collaboration to the next level. It is really a new way of handling project delivery and facilitates the use of building information modeling delivery programs that have emerged."
Perlberg states that the fundamental philosophy of ConsensusDOCS in general, and the tri-party collaborative agreement specifically, is aligning parties’ interests with superior project results. One aspect of this is direct communication among the parties to resolve potential claims before they become contentious.
AIA Prepares Integrated Project Delivery Guide
The American Institute of Architects in partnership with the Institute’s California Council is developing a guide to integrated project delivery. Based on the AIA California Council’s document, “Integrated Project Delivery—A Working Definition,” the guide will be a new online resource that will be provided free to AIA members in early November.
The AIA California Council developed an interdisciplinary group, the Integrated Project Delivery Task Force, representing the combined efforts of architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, clients, and attorneys to create “Integrated Project Delivery—A Working Definition.” The guide that furthers the development of an integrated project delivery system is scheduled to be published same time as the 2007 AIA standard form agreements. In 2008 the guide will be used to assist the AIA contract documents program to develop a standard integrated project delivery contract form.
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