In Part II of Managing Construction Conflict: Unfinished Revolution, Continuing Evolution, Professor Stipanowich discusses which of the dispute resolution methods from the end of the twentieth century are still used today and describes the current situation of dispute resolution in the construction industry.

He first explains that partnering (explained in Part I) never really came into general use and “is typically a feature of public construction programs…” He notes, however, that “some studies have indicated that the use of partnering has resulted in more projects being completed on or ahead of schedule, in improved contract administration, reduced claims and disputes, reduced owner engineering and administrative expenses, and more value engineering.”

Professor Stipanowich then describes the relatively new concept of integrated project delivery (IPD), which combines elements of partnering and relational, collaboration-oriented contracts. He states,

IPD models are founded on a multiparty agreement between primary stakeholders in design and construction, a commitment to collaboration built on trust, and defining success mutually in terms of project outcomes rather than individual goals. IPDs enable design decisions to be enhanced by the involvement of all team members and the free flow of technical and budgetary information. Successful IPD requires effective, open communication, and for this reason considerable effort must be given to establishing protocols for the use and management of information, including building information modeling (BIM).

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