Integrated Project Delivery: New Approaches For New Construction Projects

Construction projects involve many independent players at different stages: architects, planners, builders and consulting companies. The success of a construction project thus heavily depends on how effectively these players can combine their knowledge and expertise. Working together as a team and coordinating tasks can also reduce or even prevent execution errors and delays. However, the currently prevailing approach to construction projects focuses on reducing liability by separating the parties' responsibilities instead of a "best for project" approach: Hence, responsibility is not shared but separated. To achieve such a "best for project" approach in which the players cooperate and can include new technology into construction projects, a new contractual framework, culture and mindset are needed. Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is one possible answer.