Construction Partnering
Construction Partnering is a method of proactive project management that keeps design and construction teams in sync from start to finish. All team members must adopt a frame of mind, make a commitment, and follow a procedure geared toward achieving the same goal: the timely and effective completion of the project.
Goals linked to the project’s scope, time, money, quality, and safety are used to gauge the team’s performance.
The Partnering approach helps disparate teams reconnect, become more cohesive, and adopt a habit of constant improvement. The current project team achieves unprecedented success, and future teams have access to lessons learned and permanent changes in procedure.
In addition, successful partnering helps establish long-term connections, which in turn generates repeat business for the project team.
Who Makes Use of Construction Partnering
Partnering may be scaled to accommodate projects of any size and scope, from a $1 million road extension to a $50 million office complex or a $500 million hospital campus. It supplements the contract rather than replaces it, and serves to guarantee that both parties needs are addressed.
Construction Partnering has been utilized by both public and private sector project owners and design and construction teams as a method to enhance project outcomes. This method of cooperation is beneficial for government, commercial, industrial, and institutional endeavors.
Neal Flesner, a Master Level Partnering Facilitator with the VELO Group, has led Construction Partnering sessions for various government agencies, other project owners, and leading construction companies all around the world.
Construction Partnering: A Brief History
The Construction Industry Institute (CII) first proposed the concept of “Construction Partnering” in 1983 as a way to make American companies more competitive abroad. Efforts made to reduce the widespread litigation that plagued the construction business and boost efficiency were also made.
The Construction Industry Institute (CII) issued a statement in response to the findings of the CICE Project, an investigation into the efficiency of the construction industry conducted by The Business Roundtable.
Members of CII come from a variety of backgrounds, including those of owners, contractors, and academic institutions like the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Corps successfully piloted the Partnering method on two of its construction projects in the late 1980s.
Because “many of the constraints that limit cost efficiency are common ones and that a cooperative atmosphere was necessary to accomplish genuine improvements,” the CII formed a task group at The University of Texas at Austin to investigate the Partnering approach.
The committee weighed the pros and downsides of collaborating, outlined steps for getting started, and clarified how partnerships relate to the terms of the construction contract. In 1991, they released a report titled “In Search of Partnering Excellence” that detailed the findings of their research.