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OPINION
A cooperative approach
The integrated project delivery method fosters early collaboration, minimizing surprises and enhancing efficiency at the core of your business.
W e all want a smooth and efficient project process, whether you’re leading a design team or are a developer, owner, project partner, or construction contractor. One way we’ve found to preempt issues is by utilizing the integrated design project delivery method, which establishes early and frequent communication and collaboration.
Josh Hersel
Predictability isn’t a given in the AEC world. Designers, engineers, and general contractors gather estimates, build schedules, and procure materials to gain as much certainty as they can before a project launches. Countless factors can derail even the most detailed plans, however. Supply chain issues, labor availability, and even pandemics can throw plans into disarray. With design-bid-build, sometimes referred to as a traditional delivery method, a project unfolds in three distinct, sequenced phases with separate contracts for each. In design-build, the project owner has a single point of contact, and one contract covers design and construction. Design and construction parties work together from the beginning.
Integrated design takes design-build a step further, bringing all responsible parties to the table at project initiation. The parties stay involved and participate in every phase of the construction process. Rather than each project phase occurring consecutively, sequencing happens simultaneously because all parties, from the general contractor to trades, are involved at every step. This method can minimize surprises, increase efficiencies, and spur innovative ideas along the way, because each discipline validates the methods and decisions as the project unfolds. Our staff say it provides a system of checks and balances that
See JOSH HERSEL, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 28, 2024, ISSUE 1559
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