#8 - Integrated Project Delivery

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is a relatively new process that is gaining popularity as the use of BIM expands and the AEC facility management (AEC/FM) industry learns how to use this technology to support integrated teams.

There are multiple approaches to IPD as industry experiments with this approach. The American Institute of Architecture (AIA) has prepared sample contract forms for a family of IPD versions (AIA 2010) They have also published a useful guide to IPD (AIA 2010). In all cases, integrated projects are distinguished by effective collaboration among the owner, designers, and contractors. This collaboration takes place from early design and continues through project handover.

The key concept is that the project team/s works together using the best collaborative tools at their disposal to ensure that the project will meet the owner's requirements at significantly reduced time and cost. Either the owner needs to be part of the team to help manage the process or a consultant must be hired to represent the owner's interests, or both may participate.

The tradeoffs that are always a part of the design process can best be evaluated using BIM - cost, energy, functionality, esthetics, and constructability. Thus, BIM and IPD go together and represent a clear break from current linear processes that are based on the paper-based exchange of information.

Clearly, the owner is the primary beneficiary of IPD, but it does require that they understand enough to participate and specify in the contracts what they want from the participants and how it will be achieved.

We will discuss more about IPD in the coming articles.

Next article, Parametric Objects.

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