percent over the next three-to-five years while adoption of IPD models will increase by the same proportion. Progressive models such as IPD help reduce cumulative risks for all by enabling all parties collectively optimizing project performance to share responsibilities and resources across every project stage. We have seen projects where owners, contractors, and designers jointly value-engineer designs to mitigate risks finding cost-effective, readily available material substitutes that alleviate supply chain woes to on-site design changes that reduce labor costs. These iterative, collaborative models ensure everything from project forecasts and construction processes are collaboratively and continually molded to the realities of their operating environment. Full transparency around design assumptions, labor costs, or supply chain challenges among owners and contractors reduces uncertainty and ensures more realistic targets and predictable delivery. Consequently, these models are the most successful at improving project certainty in an uncertain risk landscape with IPD used by the majority (62 percent) of companies that stay on schedule over 80 percent of the time. Collaboration is happening at an industry-wide level, too. Some companies such as Graham Construction are participating in peer groups with other major contractors sharing anonymized data on everything from salaries to compensation that aid the creation of industry benchmarks. Industry benchmarks are now being used to improve project certainty almost half the time. Construction 4.0 is bringing owners and contractors closer At the heart of the emerging owner-contractor relationship is the digital transformation of the construction industry. Cloud technologies and connected data are giving owners and contractors shared visibility over project risks and driving more proactive and united risk management. Open, interoperable tools are facilitating more collaborative, cohesive projects where all partners jointly monitor and manage risks from planning phase and throughout the project lifecycle. Some project control platforms now use live digital dashboards drawing on connected data from multiple stakeholders to provide remote, at-a-glance oversight of costs and risks across entire projects. Moreover, they also offer predictive capabilities that are available to identify early warning signs and indicators that a project is at risk. By highlighting systemic risks such as rising labor costs or supply chain crunches, connected data spurs more collaborative mitigation measures. Consolidating project data across all stakeholders can show how disruption to a single supplier can affect all stakeholders and targets, driving more holistic mitigation measures. Digitally integrating previously separate project controls is also giving owners, contractors, and designers shared visibility of the complex interplay between all project controls and phases. For example, cost, schedule, and design management have previously been siloed processes but technology is now helping join up those separate systems and data. This is enabling contractors and owners to see how some design options could increase labor costs or how efforts to expedite project delivery might cause overspending.
Construction 4.0 technologies are also providing the foundation for collaborative early-contractor-involvement models that collectively anticipate and avoid future costs and risks. Design-build or construction management at risk models require contractors to find the cheapest design among many options. Previously this would involve many people working intensively and estimating a project up to 15 times. Now, sophisticated 3D modeling and automated estimating software is enabling contractors, owners, and designers to simultaneously simulate hundreds of differing designs to find the lowest cost options without excessive manpower. Similar technologies are transforming risk management. We can now harness historic data to include previously known risks in the estimating phase and create what-if scenarios, forecasting how myriad changes to costs, schedules, or scope would affect project outcomes. Toward progressive construction models As a volatile risk climate becomes the new normal, a failure to adopt a more progressive approach to sharing risk can prevent infrastructure projects ever getting off the ground. Where owners continue to insist on a traditional transfer of risk, contractors are setting high upfront prices that jeopardize the feasibility of the project entirely; one project in Alberta was canceled because it was put out to the market and three contractors came back with prices that were significantly above the budget. Progressive project delivery models and advanced technologies are now helping us find a way to reduce the burden of risk on contractors without unduly increasing the cost burden on owners. Early-contractor- involvement models supported by platforms built around collaboration and data integration are helping owners and contractors cooperatively mitigate costs and risks at planning and design stage. Steven Smith, Executive Vice President, Infrastructure, Graham Construction Steven has over 30 years of progressive leadership in the engineering and construction industry. His expertise covers all transportation and infrastructure sectors including highways, bridges, rail and transit, water and airports. Steven has implemented innovative organizational strategies and has led teams in business development, operations and project delivery functions in diverse business, geographic and economic environments. He has a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science in Geotechnical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and is an active participant in various industry organizations. Catie Williams, Vice President, Product Development, InEight Catie Williams leads as Vice President of Product Development at InEight, focused on digitalizing the industry and being a champion for change man- agement and business process standardization for contractors, owners and engineers. Catie started her career as an application developer and quickly pivoted into the data and analytics space. Fast forward to today, Catie oversees several application products that drive productivity growth in the construction and engineering industries. Catie has a passion for efficiency, solving prob - lems, team building and promoting women in S.T.E.M. fields. In addition to her work at InEight, Catie helped develop both undergraduate and graduate data science programs for a local university, where she also currently teaches.
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October 2023 csengineermag.com
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