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Integrated Project Delivery is a new approach to project delivery where the entire project team works together from the inception of the project, increasing the coordination and collaboration where it is most cost effective. The contractual relationships in an IPD method are shared among the Owner, Architect, Consultants, and Contractor. 

The benefit of this approach is a higher level of communication and coordination, and it works well on complex projects or projects trying to achieve a high standard, such as deep sustainability or energy targets. 

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is a project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction. 

IPD principles can be applied to a variety of contractual arrangements and IPD teams can include members well beyond the basic triad of owner, architect, and contractor. In all cases, integrated projects are uniquely distinguished by highly effective collaboration among the owner, the prime designer, and the prime constructor, commencing at early design and continuing through to project.

Instead of using typical agreements, an IPD project uses:

• AIA B195 – Agreement Between Owner and Architect for Integrated Project Delivery 
• AIA A195 – Agreement Between Owner and Contractor for Integrated Project Delivery handover. 

The project team acts a single entity, similar to the Design/Build process. An IPD project typically takes advantage of this extra layer of coordination and collaboration to require a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP). Since the project team is closely working together from the beginning of the project, members get to contribute their insight and expertise and influence the design. It requires trust among the team members, and the outcome is the opportunity to design, build, and operate as efficiently as possible.

This is the world of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). 

IPD leverages early contributions of knowledge and expertise through utilization of new technologies, allowing all team members to better realize their highest potentials while expanding the value they provide throughout the project lifecycle.

At the core of an integrated project are collaborative, integrated and productive teams composed of key project participants. Building upon early contributions of individual expertise, these teams are guided by principles of trust, transparent processes, effective collaboration, open information sharing, team success tied to project success, shared risk and reward, value-based decision making, and utilization of full technological capabilities and support. The outcome is the opportunity to design, build, and operate as efficiently as possible.

In addition to shifting design decision making forward, redefinition of phases is driven by two key concepts: the integration of early input from constructors, installers, fabricators and suppliers as well as from designers; and the ability to model and simulate the project accurately using BIM tools. These two concepts enable the design to be brought to a much higher level of completion before the documentation phase is started. Thus the first three phases of the integrated project: Conceptualization, Criteria Design, and Detailed Design (described in detail on the following pages) involve more effort than their counterparts in the traditional flow.

This higher level of completion in earlier project stages means that the next phase, Implementation Documents, requires less effort than the traditional Construction Documents phase, and the early participation of regulatory agencies, trade contractors, and fabricators allows shortening of the fifth and sixth phases, Agency Review and Buyout, as well. The result is that the project is defined and coordinated to a much higher level prior to construction start than is typical with traditional delivery methods, enabling a more efficient Construction phase and a potentially shorter construction period. The IPD phases conclude at project Closeout.