The fledgling Integrated Project Delivery Alliance (IPDA) aims to educate and share best practices of IPD models with owners, builders and designers across Canada.
Markku Allison, currently serving as president of the national alliance which was formed last year in Alberta, is quick to point out that the prime objective of IPD isn’t always just to save money or speed up the construction schedule.
"Its primary aim is to maximize value, perform predictably and to deliver predictably," he says.
However, he adds, the fringe benefits are often "significant cost and scheduling savings."
An IPD project "aligns interests of disparate parties towards a common goal."
At minimum, the general contractor (GC), architect and owner sign a single agreement to design and deliver a building. This is unlike traditional project delivery methods where the contractor and architect have separate contracts with the owner.
In many instances trade partners and consultants also sign the agreement; IPD projects have been completed with as many as 12 signatories, says Allison.
Allison, who is also the director of engagement strategy at Chandos Construction, the general contractor which helped found the IPDA, says the collaborative delivery model is not just between the architect, owner and the GC but also between the subs and the consulting team.
A case in point is a project for Red Deer public schools for which Chandos is general contractor. It is a "poly-party agreement" between about a dozen contractors/consultants.
"The idea is through a single contractual instrument we can lay a stronger foundation for a team to collectively define and pursue a common goal."
The IPDA was formed in 2015 with funding raised from membership dues. Based in Alberta, it’s hosted a number of awareness and educational events, drawing more than 2,000 participants.
Recently it held an educational seminar in Vancouver and it will host another in Toronto on April 27.
There are about 22 founding and associate members in Alberta, but more are expected across Canada as the alliance grows.
Members include a glazing contractor, mechanical and electrical contractors, other subs and architects.
Allison says that some of the principles of IPD are taken from the "world of lean" — a production practice that aims to maximize value largely through consciously designing work flows and business practices and eliminating waste.
"Lean thinking had its roots in Toyota," he says, noting executives at the Japanese car giant identified eight different types of waste associated with manufacturing.
IPD came about in the early 2000s in the U.S. and between 2004 and the present teams have been experimenting with design and delivery formulas around IPD.
"The teams and owners that have engaged in it have found it tremendously beneficial to themselves."
Allison says one of the IPDA’s objectives is to fund research. It recently funded a study — the largest of its kind on IPD — conducted by the University of Minnesota on the outcomes of 59 IPD projects in North America.
IPD was used on at least 13 different building types on project scopes ranging from less than $5 million to more than $100 million.
The findings, he says, were "overwhelmingly positive." The report can be viewed at www.ipda.ca/evidence.
The IPDA is jointly sponsoring another study with the Lean Construction Institute of the U.S. that examines 11 IPD and lean projects in North America. Its findings will be released next fall.
"The study is a significant undertaking that will examine the specific benefits of lean and IPD as it regards the meeting of owners’ business objectives," he says.
Allison says projects unsuitable to IPD include those where the owner’s driving motivation is only lowest first cost.
IPDA’s policies and resources are currently in the formative stage and are being shaped by its board, made up of a wide range of IPD practitioners, companies and/or individuals from contracting, architectural and engineering sectors.
Chandos Construction did its first IPD project — Alberta’s first net-zero commercial building, the Mosaic Centre in Edmonton — two years ago. Through that experience, Chandos cultivated relationships with other contractors and subs interested in forming the national alliance.
"The Mosaic Centre was a fortuitous match with an informed and enlightened owner and a contractor-partner, Chandos," says Allison.
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