Why use Integrated Project Delivery?

As we all know, the design process for construction projects is prone to error and this can have a huge impact on construction costs. The reasons for this are numerous.

Firstly, there are many individual parties involved in the process, such as architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers and so on. Each transfer information to each other to inform their particular designs. These designs are often in different formats; schematic, 2D, 3D or more advanced Building Information Models.

The designs are also commonly produced on different software platforms that do not communicate, meaning that data is continually being inputted manually, leading to inevitable mistakes and lost information.

Secondly, because there is generally no common format, it is very difficult to identify potential problems of overlapping trades or design, complicating the process of coordination and constructability analysis.

Finally, the design is normally a process run over five distinct stages – Spatial, Preliminary Construction, Construction, Production and As Built. At each phase more detail is added and it is usually easier to produce new designs rather than modify existing ones. There is therefore more manual inputting and more potential for error.

However, the process of Integrated Project Delivery takes a different approach. In this process, one building information model is used to combine the individual designs and this single model is developed over the five stages. Working in a single environment, coordination and analysis is made easier and communication between technologies is possible. The result is better communication, faster process, less error, less waste and less cost.

The July edition of BIM Journal examines both the problem and solution in more detail and provides a case study to validate the process.