Integrated project delivery (IPD) has taken on an iconic status as of late: Most everyone salutes the concept of multilevel collaboration among builders on project delivery. But, of course, the devil is in the details. What happens when an owner/client insists on IPD for real, and becomes involved in the day-to-day challenge of bringing it off?
Sidney J. Sanders knows some of the answers, and he has the bruises to show for it. Sanders is senior vice president of construction, facilities design, and real estate for The Methodist Hospital System in Houston. The health system has completed four patient care facilities in five years: an ambulatory care tower, a new 193-bed community hospital, and expansions of one community hospital by 240 beds and another by 188 beds. For the two community hospital expansions, Sanders employed a construction manager at-risk (CM-R) model-not classic IPD, but close enough. For the new facility, Sanders stepped things up a notch by employing a process called design assist (DA). DA involves architects and engineers working collaboratively with subcontractors and manufacturers early in the design process. It also involves relying heavily on 3-D building information modeling (BIM) to keep the information flowing. Results were significant: The CM-R projects took 50 months and 42 months to complete, respectively. The DA project was completed in 37 months. With schedule reduction like that, is Sanders riding the project delivery wave of the future? Recently he sat down with Healthcare Building Ideas Contributing Editor Richard L. Peck to discuss the new process and what he learned from it.
Richard Peck: That comparison of the CM-R projects and the DA project almost looks like a controlled study. Can we call it that?
Sidney J. Sanders: Not really. There are too many variables, but it is a comparison from which you can draw some conclusions. For example, DA did play a major role in the time savings we experienced. But along the way, we learned some difficult lessons as well. Not only is it important to have the right companies and individuals with the right perspective involved, but we also learned how resistant companies and professionals can be to making substantial changes in their operating behavior.
