Sunday, December 16, 2012

Who Needs Integrated Project Delivery?

Integrated project delivery allows all of the key players involved in the project to collaborate. This helps share information openly which builds trust among the stakeholders. All of the plans are digitally stored and digitally based, instead of being on paper.

Integrated Project Delivery helps everyone to understand the desired outcome of the project so that there is teamwork and shared ownership in the project. Right from the start, the contractor can put together a picture of what the project will look like so the client can make changes or approve as necessary. This ability to make changes to the plans online also helps control costs and keeps a project on schedule.
Integrated project delivery is beneficial when a project is extremely costly such as several hundred million dollars. It is beneficial on projects where the government is involved. For example, a city hires a contractor to build a library. Just imagine all the hours of labor, number of materials, amount of materials, number of workers, and number of suppliers that need to be managed. It is hard to imagine how a project could be completed without integrated project delivery. Documentation of the phases, costs, and progress of the project can be stored and shared with all the stakeholders.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

IPD: Do I Need This for MY Project?

Integrated productdelivery is a specific methodology that integrates the roles of the owner, architect, and contractor to create one team. This streamlined group will work under a single contract to complete the construction project in question. There are many benefits to integrated product delivery, not least of which is a significantly shortened delivery time.

If you're interested in getting your project completed as quickly as possible, integrated product delivery is the clear solution. You'll eliminate several steps in the building process so work can proceed much faster. When you work with a design-build or design-bid-build process, you have a series of distinct steps that must take place independent from one another. An integrated approach allows you to handle many different aspects of the job at once.

Integrated product delivery also makes optimum use of each individual's expertise. The engineers, construction manager, and subcontractor are all brought on board at the same time. This allows for input from all team members at every junction. With integrated product delivery, you won't have to worry about problems occurring in late stages of the process because of an error early on. All teams will communicate freely with one another.

When you're dealing with a high-end remodeling project, there are many details to be considered. Integrated product delivery is the best way to leverage the specialties and skills of everyone involved to devise the best plan for your project. You'll end up with high quality results that are delivered within a very short time frame at a competitive price. If you're working on an important remodeling project with a time crunch, find out in a no-obligation consultation if this is the methodology for you.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Integrated Project Delivery: What is It, and Why Seek It Out?



Before we can answer “Why?”,  we have to ask, “What is Integrated Project Delivery?
This project model is so new in the building construction field, that its definition is still fluid.  It is extremely interactive because it starts at the idea stage rather than after the concept has already taken design form. 

The purpose of Integrated Project Delivery, according  to Chuck Thomsen, FAIA, FCMAA*, is to get over the barrier of the “traditional contracting structure” which dictates  the “liability… insurance and traditional risk management policies” of the architects, engineers, and construction personnel involved.

So, to tackle the problem of all these contractors pulling against each other because of mandates built into their own specialties, Integrated Project Delivery provides a new approach.  It brings together the members of the project team so that they work seamlessly “with a mutual responsibility to help one another meet an owner’s goals.”

At this time, we are at the legal stage, where these key specialists are working with their lawyers to craft the management protocols and contract terminology that will align the priorities of the project team with the project mission.  Within those priorities are the goals of improving efficiency, reducing waste and constructing the best possible buildings.

Integrated Project Delivery provides the urgency for getting all personnel on the team together as early as possible, hopefully during the schematic design stage.  It allows for a collaborative brainstorming before anything is actually designed.  This way issues that could cause serious bumps in the road later are addressed and dealt with. 

As an incentive, a unique type of contract is introduced at this juncture that demonstrates the IPD ideal.   All participants are required to sign a “shared risk/shared reward contract.”  This gives tangibility to the “understanding that all parties are working together for the good of the project.”

Integrated Project Delivery has eight elements that remain constant no matter what direction collaboration on a project takes:

A legal relationship
A management committee
An incentive pool
A no-blame working environment
Design assistance
Collaboration software
Lean construction
Integrated leadership

One of the most power tools available to implement Integrated Project Delivery is the BIM software.  Only recently developed as an improvement on CAD, Building Information Modeling is proving to be the mechanism that enables the Project Teams to do their preliminary IPD brainstorming and assists them through every stage of construction.

BIM lets everyone involved in the project see the possible design scenarios long before the materials for construction are even ordered.  Changes can be made with a click of the mouse.  Immediately, BIM generates reports on costs, manpower, materials and work schedules based on the changes to the design.  With projected data at their fingertips, and everyone having access to the same information, the architects, engineers, contractors, and all interested personnel can discuss options and make informed decisions. 

So, in the process of discovering “What” Integrated Project Delivery is, we have actually answered the question of “Why.”  IPD fosters a unity of vision and an attitude of enthusiastic cooperation among the project team members who otherwise might be at odds with each other because of traditional ways of doing things and factors they do not control.  Now, with IPD, the emphasis on joint planning and constant communication enables building projects to progress more smoothly and efficiently.


Source:  Constructech Magazine
www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=7619

*Chuck Thomsen, FAIA, FCMAA (fellow, American Institute of Architects/fellow, Construction Management Assn. of America)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Why Integrated Project Delivery?

Before we can answer “Why?”,  we have to ask, “What is Integrated Project Delivery?
This project model is so new in the building construction field, that its definition is still fluid.  It is extremely interactive because it starts at the idea stage rather than after the concept has already taken design form. 

The purpose of Integrated Project Delivery, according  to Chuck Thomsen, FAIA, FCMAA*, is to get over the barrier of the “traditional contracting structure” which dictates  the “liability… insurance and traditional risk management policies” of the architects, engineers, and construction personnel involved.

So, to tackle the problem of all these contractors pulling against each other because of mandates built into their own specialties, Integrated Project Delivery provides a new approach.  It brings together the members of the project team so that they work seamlessly “with a mutual responsibility to help one another meet an owner’s goals.”

At this time, we are at the legal stage, where these key specialists are working with their lawyers to craft the management protocols and contract terminology that will align the priorities of the project team with the project mission.  Within those priorities are the goals of improving efficiency, reducing waste and constructing the best possible buildings.

Integrated Project Delivery provides the urgency for getting all personnel on the team together as early as possible, hopefully during the schematic design stage.  It allows for a collaborative brainstorming before anything is actually designed.  This way issues that could cause serious bumps in the road later are addressed and dealt with. 

As an incentive, a unique type of contract is introduced at this juncture that demonstrates the IPD ideal.   All participants are required to sign a “shared risk/shared reward contract.”  This gives tangibility to the “understanding that all parties are working together for the good of the project.”

Integrated Project Delivery has eight elements that remain constant no matter what direction collaboration on a project takes:

A legal relationship
A management committee
An incentive pool
A no-blame working environment
Design assistance
Collaboration software
Lean construction
Integrated leadership

One of the most power tools available to implement Integrated Project Delivery is the BIM software.  Only recently developed as an improvement on CAD, Building Information Modeling is proving to be the mechanism that enables the Project Teams to do their preliminary IPD brainstorming and assists them through every stage of construction.

BIM lets everyone involved in the project see the possible design scenarios long before the materials for construction are even ordered.  Changes can be made with a click of the mouse.  Immediately, BIM generates reports on costs, manpower, materials and work schedules based on the changes to the design.  With projected data at their fingertips, and everyone having access to the same information, the architects, engineers, contractors, and all interested personnel can discuss options and make informed decisions. 

So, in the process of discovering “What” Integrated Project Delivery is, we have actually answered the question of “Why.”  IPD fosters a unity of vision and an attitude of enthusiastic cooperation among the project team members who otherwise might be at odds with each other because of traditional ways of doing things and factors they do not control.  Now, with IPD, the emphasis on joint planning and constant communication enables building projects to progress more smoothly and efficiently.


In need of Integrated Project Delivery for a project? The professional team at LaZerCAD.com can help you out; get a free consult today!

Source:  Constructech Magazine
www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=7619

*Chuck Thomsen, FAIA, FCMAA (fellow, American Institute of Architects/fellow, Construction Management Assn. of America)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

What Is Integrated Project Delivery?

Integrated Project Delivery, also known as IPD, is a collaborative approach to design objectives and processes. The main goals of IPD is to involve all parties from all aspects of a project in every detail of the project, from conception onward. This way parties from every aspect of the project can provide guidance and expertise all along the way, even before the project is officially started. The IPD process also focuses heavily on building virtually before ever beginning to build physically.

Integrated Project Delivery is not possible without BIM, or Building Information Modeling. BIM helps to put all the facts and details on the table so that the IPD team can work together. The result is a collaborative effort by all parties to make each project the best that it can be. It is really emerging as a great way to help project teams work together and collaborate.

IPD can help companies make sure that projects run smoothly, and makes sure that all parties involved have an equal voice. Each expert can weigh in and voice their opinions on the project, and allow for things to run in harmony. With IPD, everyone is along for the whole project, every step of the way. Each project can have the best: experience, talent, design, and combine them all together to make each project outstanding.
IPD really is a revolutionary way of revamping the business industry. With each person working towards the common goal, each project gets the attention it deserves.