Although adoption of full-fledged Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is still in its infancy in Canada, this project delivery method has the potential to pay dividends for all parties in the construction process, says Dave Pelletier, chair of the Institute for BIM in Canada.
“For all parties, the adoption of IPD can ensure greater efficiencies in the construction process, including time and cost efficiencies,” he said.
The institute recently hosted a conference in Toronto on “Implementing IPD: a ‘win-win’ solution in construction.”
IPD is defined as a construction delivery process in which all stakeholders are involved from beginning through to project handover. This collaborative approach brings contractors, owners, and consultants together, optimizing results. It also provides for shared risk and responsibilities.
From an owner’s perspective, Pelletier said IPD ensures such parties are involved throughout the construction process, “available to provide answers to key questions, while also understanding-from start to finish the linkages between design, construction and the finished project.”
Consultants also benefit from IPD projects, Pelletier said.
Their ongoing involvement through the construction process can provide greater understanding of issues that may arise between design and construction, “while also helping to provide solutions in a collaborative process.”
For contractors, having owners and consultants involved in the construction delivery process is also beneficial in that questions or issues that arise “are able to be managed or mitigated quickly and efficiently.”
For contractors, IPD also allows for sharing of risks, an essential element.
Pelletier said that while the Canadian construction industry has not yet seen widespread implementation of “pure” IPD, “certainly there are many who can speak to successful projects where the tenets of IPD — increased collaboration, risk-sharing and innovation — were involved.
“It is great to see this being done in our industry,” said Pelletier, president of D & G Mechanical Ltd. of Kelowna.
“This should provide the necessary background to begin seeing greater adoption of IPD across the country.”
But for that to happen, all parties in the construction process need to be fully aware of what is involved in an IPD project, he said.
Development of multi-party contract documents tailored specifically to IPD also could provide an impetus for greater utilization of this delivery method.
Increased utilization of BIM is expected to facilitate more widespread use of IPD, Pelletier added.
“BIM provides the opportunity for greater collaboration and visualization throughout the construction process, which is an excellence tool in an IPD project,” he said.
That point was underscored in a presentation at the conference by John Hale, chief CAD/BIM at the Department of National Defence in Ottawa.
His topic was “BIM: A bigger bang for IPD.”
Hale said use of IPD can bring a number of efficiencies to a project “while also maximizing the potential of new technologies such as BIM.
“Owners need to have a set of tools to ensure that the inherent advantages of IPD are realized.”
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