LAST MONTH, the AIA officially released two new integrated-project delivery (IPD) agreements to help the industry adopt morecollaborative processes and take full advantage of building information modeling (BIM). The agreements have the potential to eliminate “a lot of the adversarial nature of the construction industry” and reduce claims and disputes, says Suzanne Harness, managing director and counsel, AIA Contract Documents.
The more traditional agreement requires architects and contractors to collaborate at an earlier stage but does not substantially change the usual risk allocation, Harness says.
The other, however, is a “one for all and all for one” model in which the owner, architect, and construction manager form a single entity—with shared risk and reward—for the purpose of designing and constructing a building.
The AIA hopes the latter model, inspired in part by a similar one used in Australia, will motivate all parties to work toward the same goals. Both agreements require that BIM be used “to the fullest extent possible,” Harness says.
