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Demand from clients for more efficiency in creating capital improvements—condensed delivery times, fewer disputes, and reductions in waste and unproductive expenditures—is propelling design and construction entities to create effective processes. In concert with the technological evolution in design exploration, communication, and documentation, the demand for efficiency is driving significant and rapid changes in the construction industry. Within the last few months, two new tools have been introduced that should move design and construction into a radically different method of project delivery.
In September, a consortium of associations representing clients, contractors, subcontractors, and sureties—the new ConsensusDOCS group—introduced the first standard integrated project delivery contract. The ConsensusDOCS 300, Standard Form of Tri-Party Agreement for Collaborative Project Delivery, provides the contractual framework for a truly collaborative interaction between a client, designer, and contractor. The parties sign the agreement at the inception of the project, binding them to collaborate in planning, design, development, and construction.
In November, The American Institute of Architects and its component, the AIA California Council, published Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide to help define the concept of integrated or relational contracting for project delivery. It helps identify the many variations in the project delivery process that will develop as the design and construction industry continues to move toward collaborative team approaches. The material in the Guide extends beyond a mere definition of integrated project delivery by examining how responsibilities are redefined and financial rewards and risks are reallocated as the design and construction processes blend. It assumes that the use of building information modeling for design and construction is fundamental and looks beyond the technology to the refabrication of the process and the restructuring of the form and relationship of the participants.
These transformative tools were produced separately by the construction side of the industry and the leading design organization for building projects. Together they represent a blurring of the traditional lines of responsibility, established concepts of risk and reward, and typical business models of professional service firms and construction entities.
ConsensusDOCS Introduces First Standard IPD Contract
The tri-party collaborative agreement represents just one of the many ways that the integrated project delivery (IPD) process can be structured .Although it is not a “pure” form of alliance or relational contracting, the agreement structures a relationship that will help independent design and construction entities transition to evolving forms of practice.
In the agreement, the project client, lead designer, and contractor sign the same contract and create a core team. The team, which also may include key specialty contractors and consultants, will make consensus decisions based upon the best interests of the project. The project is directed by a management group comprising senior representatives of the three parties. This type of agreement has been used successfully in Australia and other countries that do not have the history of adversarial relationships among project clients, consulting design firms, and construction entities.
This innovative collaborative approach to design and construction fosters a greater alignment of the interest of all project participants with the overall success of the project. New technologies can create, document, and communicate project information so all parties are able to focus on decision making throughout the creative process. The use of building information modeling where design input is provided not only by a prime design team but by specialty subcontractors, and manufacturers requires greater collaboration among project participants to fully utilize the attributes of the technology.
The ConsensusDOCS 300 introduces new opportunities with shared control. Responsibilities are redefined and financial rewards and risk reallocated so that there is a stronger alignment of the interests of all project participants on measurable performance targets. When there is a shared understanding of intended outcomes integrated with client goals, there should be a reduction in dissatisfaction and disputes.
The three parties, together with any critical specialty contractors and suppliers, truly collaborate during design and construction, providing input that will improve the quality, cost, and timeliness of the project delivery. To the greatest extent possible, project decisions are made by consensus. When consensus cannot be reached, the client retains the ability to make a determination in the best interest of the project. Concomitant with this consensus process should be the elimination of placing fault or blame.
More information about the ConsensusDOCS 300 can be found at www.ConsensusDOCS.org.
New Guide Published by the AIA
Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide helps define the concept of integrated project delivery and identifies the many variations in the process that will be developing as the design and construction industry continues to move toward collaborative team approaches. It is offered as a tool to assist clients, design firms, and others in the construction process to move toward integrated models and improved design, construction, and operations processes. The Guide begins with introductory material about the principles of IPD and points of consideration in a generic sense. There is also a study of implementation of IPD and a discussion of application of general IPD principles within the specific framework of common delivery models used in the marketplace today.
One purpose of the Guide is to assist the AIA Contract Documents program to develop an AIA version of a three-party alliance contract. The information is online at www.AIA.org/ipdg.
Initiatives Need to Lead to Significant Cultural Change
Both of these tools will serve as catalysts for refabricating the design and construction processes and restructuring the form and relationship of the participants. Insurance, legal, and educational models will all have to change as new business models evolve, construction entities become more involved in design decision making, and design firms share their control and insular status. With its 50 years of experience in responding to industry evolution, Schinnerer is examining how the ConsensusDOCS 300 and the information provided by the AIA’s Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide can be accommodated by insurance products and risk management procedures.
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