Construction partnering is a type of

business partnering Business partnering is the development of successful, long term, strategic relationships between customers and suppliers, based on achieving best practice and sustainable competitive advantage. The term also refers to a business partnering support ...

used in the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

industry. Partnering is intended to assist project teams with setting goals, resolving disputes and improving project outcomes. The construction partnering team is made up of the project’s owner (client), the consulting engineers and/or architects, the contractor(s) and other key project stakeholders. Construction partnering has been used both in the

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and elsewhere since the early 1980s as a methodology to reduce litigation and improve productivity.

Objective

The objective of construction partnering is to reduce project costs and schedules, eliminate change orders and claims, and improve communication by developing mutually agreed upon project and partnership success goals and by monitoring the achievement of these goals for the duration of the project. The construction partnering team will also develop an agreed upon process for resolving disputes should they arise, called a dispute resolution ladder.

History

Litigation in the construction industry exploded in the 1980s. Settling disputes in court added time, cost and energy to projects. Partnering was developed as a response to this problem. In 1987, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) at

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formed a task force to explore a process to address the issues that brought the people involved in construction projects to litigation. The task force’s objectives were to examine the risks and benefits of partnering, to provide guidelines on the process and to define the relationship between partnering and the construction contract. Their results were published in January 1991 entitled, “In Search of Partnering Excellence.” The

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

(Corps) was part of the CII task force. In the late 1980s the Corps used the partnering process on two of their construction projects with great success. As a result, the Corps established a partnering program in 1991. They developed a pamphlet which described the partnering process, the reasons for using it, and the potential benefits of partnering the Corps had experienced in using the process. The

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(AGC) endorsed partnering in January 1991. AGC’s president announced that one of AGC’s objectives for the year was building construction quality through partnering.Associated General Contractors of America, “Partnering: Changing Attitudes in Construction,” Washington DC, AGC Publication #1225, October 1995. They later developed an annual award, the Marvin M. Black Award, to honor the AGC contractor(s) involved in the year’s most collaborative project. In the past 30 years, partnering has grown. Twenty-four of the 50 state transportation programs have adopted Partnering as an important process to improve outcomes. Several state transportation departments (including

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, Maryland SHA, ODOT, ADOT and others) now require a partnering process by specification.

Awards

Construction partnering has been embraced by the construction industry to such an extent that organizations have started offering awards to the top partnered projects. The current awards available are: *AGC’s Marvin M. Black Partnering Competition (https://web.archive.org/web/20141013112037/http://www.agc.org/cs/about_agc/recognition_programs/marvin_m_black_partnering_awards) *AGC’s Excellence in Partnering Award (https://web.archive.org/web/20141015013431/http://www.agc-ca.org/about.aspx?id=60) *Arizona Transportation’s Partnering Excellence Awards https://www.azdot.gov/business/programs-and-partnerships/partnering/2013-arizona-transportation-partnering-excellence-awards *Caltrans’ Excellence in Partnering (http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/construc/partnering.php) *International Partnering Institute’s Annual Partnering Awards http://partneringinstitute.org/awards/ *Kansas Department of Transportation’s KCA/KDOT Partnering Awards http://www.ksdot.org/bureaus/divoperat/partnering/awards.asp *Nevada Department of Transportation’s Excellence in Partnering Awards https://web.archive.org/web/20141022055048/http://www.nevadadot.com/Doing_Business/Partnering_Program.aspx *Ohio DOT’s Don Conway Partnering Award (http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/ConstructionMgt/Pages/Partnering.aspx)

References

{{reflist Construction industry