Excavating foundations. Pouring concrete. Hoisting steel with towering cranes.

In many respects, the process of constructing new buildings hasn’t changed much in generations. What has changed recently is the infusion of state-of-the-art technologies into construction planning and management. There is also a great deal of excitement about new, more efficient project delivery methods.

One of the most talked-about delivery methods is Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).

When using a traditional delivery method, each party is focused on delivering a quality project, but also on making a profit for his respective organization. The IPD approach shifts the focus toward the profit of the entire project team by implementing a formal contractual agreement between a project’s owner, architect and contractor. The contract mandates that all risk and reward on a project be shared by all the project stakeholders.

The IPD method is also defined by a contractual agreement that ensures early collaboration between all project team members, including subcontractors. By leveraging IPD contracts and aligning the business goals of the trade partners with the rest of the team much earlier in the process, the team can ensure more competitive pricing and knowledge-sharing at a time in the project lifecycle where it can have its greatest impact.

Jury Still Out

Proponents of IPD claim that the result is mutual trust among participants, collaborative innovation, more intense early planning, open communication within the team, and transparent financials.

But the fact is that the jury is still out on IPD because it’s not yet clearly understood or defined by even some of the most knowledgeable construction industry experts.

The legal contracts are complicated. Decision-making roles and responsibilities across the team are not always clearly defined. Also, insurance and multi-party contracts rarely blend together well because liability insurance has always been underwritten based on claims and fault (IPD contract- signers promise not to sue each other).

It will take some time before the contractual complexities concerning IPD are ironed out. Meanwhile, construction management firms can’t afford to wait for momentum to build around IPD before encouraging closer collaboration on their projects.

‘Spirit Of IPD’

At Suffolk Construction, we have been true to the “spirit of IPD” when managing several of our recent signature projects. Although these projects have been delivered using more conventional methods, our construction management teams have collaborated early in the process with our clients, architects, and subcontractors without a formal contractual agreement.

As a team, we identify conflicts in the design through virtual models, and then address those conflicts before construction begins. We use our proprietary technology to electronically manage and share project documentation in a paperless environment, allowing all project stakeholders to more effectively collaborate on project plans during the design and construction process.

Throughout the current economic downturn we have witnessed the results of this collaborative approach on notable institutional projects, such as Boston Medical Center’s Shapiro Ambulatory Care tower and the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Sherman Center. In more recent months, we have also been successful in leveraging that same project management approach with several non-institutional clients, including the Service Credit Union Corporate Headquarters, the Victor residential apartment tower in Bulfinch Triangle and the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel renovation project.

By setting an early tone of collaboration during the project planning process, our teams have been able to minimize disruptions on projects while saving clients time and money — without the entering into a formal IPD agreement.

There has been a great deal of discussion and buzz in the construction industry about IPD and whether it will soon become the accepted method for managing projects. It is possible. But it’s also important to realize that “the spirit of IPD” — team-wide collaboration early in the construction process, aligning project goals across all project stakeholders, and sharing risk — is not just hype.

Early team engagement is the right way to do business and is clearly going to be an approach that will reap the most benefits for contractors, architects and developers alike as the economy continues to rebound.

Dave Adams is vice president of Northeast commercial operations at Suffolk Construction Co., Boston, www.suffolkconstruction.com, and a member of the Urban Land Institute, Boston District Council, www.uli.org