Integrated Project Delivery in Practice: A Framework for Collaboration

By

Roger Frakes

and Kacie Goff

Last Updated Dec 16, 2025

By

Roger Frakes

and Kacie Goff

On construction projects, traditional delivery methods put different stakeholders in their own silos. While the design team feeds drawings and specifications to the general contractor (GC), the GC’s expertise in buildability wasn’t necessarily factored into those plans, for example. 

Additionally, because everyone operated in their own lanes, it was easy for stakeholders to point the finger. Successfully pinning the blame on someone else protected their own interests. 

Things are starting to change, though. Increasingly, projects are bringing everyone together on the same team through integrated project delivery (IPD). 

Understanding IPD positions GCs to tap into the growing share of projects that use this delivery method. 

IPD 101

The core difference with IPD lies in the way the contract is structured. With this approach, a single shared agreement aligns everyone on the project. 

Under that contract, the GC typically offers a turnkey project management solution to the owner. Sometimes, that means tapping its own internal capabilities for services like design or engineering. Other times, the GC works with separate design and engineering firms, but they’re all bound under the same contract. 

This provides the owner with a one-stop shop and aligns all stakeholders behind shared goals. It also puts the GC in a position to drive project outcomes. The shared contract gives them financial leverage if the architect is slow on delivering design packages, for example. 

IPD brings all these key stakeholders together under the shared agreement at the project’s outset. This way, by the time the job actually breaks ground, the team has familiarity with it. This helps everyone provide for seamless delivery. 

And because IPD supports ideal project outcomes, it’s getting increasingly popular. 

I’ve noticed a huge uptick [in IPD] in the last 3–5 years. 20 years ago, it was the big buzzword. And the people that really picked up on it were the municipalities because it took risk off their plate and put it back on the contractor. But now, because of the collaborative effort, developers are becoming wiser to it.

Roger Frakes

Project Director

JE Dunn Construction

The Core Principles of IPD — and the GC’s Role in Each

Integrated project delivery applies some core principles to align everyone on the project’s goals. For a successful project outcome, the GC needs to play a role in supporting each of those fundamental approaches: 

Early Involvement of Key Stakeholders

IPD brings the owner, design team, engineer, and GC together under the shared agreement from the project’s outset. The GC can help the project succeed by bringing key trade partners on board early, too. 

Sometimes, the owner will already have a stakeholder chosen. Other times, the GC gets tasked with vetting options on the owner’s behalf. To find the right partner for the project, the GC might:

• Conduct interviews
• Request presentations
• Ask about the potential partner’s experience with IPD and on similar project types
• Contact the potential partners’ referrals 

With IPD, the shared agreement means that lowest cost isn’t the topmost consideration. Instead, the GC, the owner, and other stakeholders already on board want to find a partner that can come alongside them to support project wins. 

Once all stakeholders are involved and under contract, planning begins with everyone seated at the same table. When everyone can collaborate from day one, the project is planned and executed based on the shared expertise. The GC plays a central role in gathering the right people with the right expertise to contribute to the project from the outset. 

Shared Risk and Reward

Some folks in the IPD space call it “zippering” because it melds all stakeholders’ interests together. If one party fails, everyone fails. But if one party wins, everyone enjoys the benefit.

For successful integrated project delivery, all stakeholders need to buy into the idea of shared risk and reward. They can’t hold things close to the chest. Everyone needs to invest in the shared goal of helping the project get completed on schedule and on budget, if not ahead of schedule and under budget. 

While risk and reward are shared on projects using IPD, these jobs still require clear delineation of responsibility. In many cases, the GC takes on the role of assigning different areas to different stakeholders. 

The GC often needs to walk through the entire scope of the project, then decide who owns what in collaboration with the other stakeholders. They might color-code drawings, for example, showing that the owner will bring water to a certain curb, at which point the designer will pick it up and bring it into the site, where it becomes the jurisdiction of the trade partner.

Everyone has the shared goal of getting water to the project, but the GC often needs to break down how that will happen and who is responsible for each step. 

Joint Decision-making

When key stakeholders come together early, each can provide guidance based on their unique area of expertise. Working as a team to make decisions based on that proficiency helps uncover solutions to problems — and fast.

Because everyone has the same contract language, schedule, and financial milestones, no one is making decisions based on their individual interests. Instead, they’re proposing ideas based on what’s best for the project as a whole. 

The GC can tap into this joint decision-making to help accelerate the project. If they know it takes 9–12 months to get a site permit in that jurisdiction, for example, they might bring the team together to sign off on initiating the application process now. Or if they know the project needs six months of grading, they can tap everyone’s expertise to create the mass grading plan and get to work. 

Open Communication

To get stakeholders involved to the right level early and to support joint decision-making around the project’s shared risk and reward, everyone needs to communicate. 

Open lines of communication help everyone stay on the same page. They also make it easier to eliminate blockers as they come up. When everyone is talking, the shared expertise might help them arrive at innovative solutions that wouldn’t have been discovered if teams worked in silos. 

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How IPD Supports Shared Wins

Successful projects are completed on time or early, and on or under budget. Integrated project delivery helps with both of those metrics in some significant ways.

Schedule

IPD helps fast-track projects. With everyone at the table early, long lead times get identified early and the right parties can start on items on the critical path.

With everyone committed to support optimal project outcomes, they might even get moving before a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) is set. When risk is shared, there’s no need to wait to move the needle on project progress. 

Budget

If a project applying integrated delivery goes over budget, everyone needs to provide cost-savings propositions. If the trade partner figures out a better way to build their scope for less cost, for example, that delta goes to their bottom line. 

The collaboration here means a few notable things for the budget:

• Each stakeholder is motivated to succeed here, helping to eliminate hidden markups. 
• Everyone aligns on the project earlier with IPD. That means adjustments happen when they’re cheapest (i.e, during precon rather than on the jobsite). 
• IPD helps to minimize change orders while encouraging everyone to work together to avoid overruns. 
• The open communication on these projects helps eliminate disputes, which often add to project costs, too. 

Because IPD supports on-time, on-budget projects, it’s increasingly preferred by owners. 

Technology as the Enabler for Collaboration

There’s a reason the popularity of projects using IPD has scaled up in tandem with increasing functionality in project management software. The right technology enables the communication and collaboration these projects need. 

When files are shared in a place everyone can access, it supports joint decision-making. It also eliminates confusion so everyone can move forward together. If a trade partner knows they can access the meeting minutes in a shared folder, for example, they should always be clear on what’s assigned to them. 

The right technology allows for tiered user roles, too. The GC might give a trade partner view access, for example, but not allow them to edit certain files. 

With automated notifications, everyone knows when the ball’s in their court. With virtual meetings, teams can sync from a variety of locations. In short, technology sets the foundation for successful IPD. 

All of this gets particularly powerful when the project uses BIM. Having a 3D model means conflict avoidance like clash detection can happen in the digital space, resolving issues before they hit the field. Then, as the project progresses, the GC can assign someone — potentially their virtual design and construction manager — to create as-built models, verifying completed work. 

This builds in accountability for all stakeholders. Everyone can clearly see what has and hasn’t been done. And with an IPD approach, any team running behind should get support from other stakeholders — instead of finger-pointing. 

Written by

Roger Frakes

Project Director | JE Dunn Construction

Roger Frakes is a Project Director at JE Dunn Construction, specializing in mission critical and design integration projects. With over three decades of experience in the construction industry, Roger brings a deep understanding of collaborative delivery models and technical execution. He is passionate about driving innovation through Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and fostering strong partnerships across teams. Based in Austin, Roger leads with a focus on efficiency, transparency, and long-term value creation.

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Kacie Goff

Contributing Writer | Procore Technologies

88 articles

Kacie Goff is a construction writer who grew up in a construction family — her dad owned a concrete company. Over the last decade, she’s blended that experience with her writing expertise to create content for the Construction Progress Coalition, Newsweek, CNET, and others. She founded and runs her own agency, Jot Content, from her home in Ventura, California.

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