“Our sticking point continues to be whether there is a “cut-off” to do IPD for projects of a certain size and budget. I know your specialty is how to apply this to small projects and I am wondering if you have any guidance or case studies to share? Do you just recommend falling back to IPDish practices?”  (Source: http://boiledarchitecture.com/ipd-for-small-projects/#comment-515)

My colleagues response was “The idea that Integrated Project Delivery  is only appropriate for large projects is one that most people believe, but that I absolutely reject.”  and I agree!

In point of fact, IPD for small projects has been around longer than IPD itself… and it’s called JOC – Job Order Contracting, also known as SABER in the Air Force.  JOC and SABER enable Owners, Contractors, Subs, and AEs to truly engage in long term partnerships and to productively and efficiently deal the vast number repair, renovation, sustainability, and small construction projects that are faced by everyone.. and which actually consume more dollars per sq.ft. than new construction!

Job Order Contracting has actually been called “IPD-lite”.  JOC enables owners and contractors to reduce procurement times and cost, front end information, work together using common data, such as an RSMeans Unit Price Book, and quite simply get more construction projects accomplished on-time and on-budget with virtually no change orders or legal disputes.

Just like IPD, JOC and SABER are NOT for everyone.   Only Owners, Contractors, and AEs who can work together collaboratively…for 3-5 yrs or longer at a time, in an atmosphere of mutual trust and shared risk-reward need apply.

Supporting technology is available specifically assure low cost JOC/SABER implementation and support consistent deployment as well as ongoing monitoring and improvement (see http://www.4Clicks.com).
Of course it takes a long time to get any organization to deal with a new process.  For example cost estimating JOCs or SABER in spreadsheets simply can’t be done transparently and productively.  And guess what, most construction cost estimators still rely exclusively on spreadsheets!   Because JOC and SABER require radical ideas such as collaboration and supporting technology, and shared information, they have taken decades to evolve and are bonly now beginning to hit new markets beyond their birthplace in the DOD sector.  Today, thousands of contractors and owners engage in billions of dollars of JOC/SABER contracts and associated construction projects.   If your not aware of this market/opportunity, you could be missing the proverbial boat.

So, if your interested in IPD for small projects it not only exists, but it has several decades of experience behind it.  JOC and SABER  are IPD, collaborative construction delivery method based upon shared risk-reward and push information to the beginning of the project cycle. JOC and SABER require a common set of information, for example common pricing such as an RSMeans Unit Price Book (UPB), and have a few other key characteristics.

Thus, JOC and SABER not new…just like BIM is not new, however, still being practiced by a fraction of the AECOO market. A JOC whitepaper can be downloaded at https://www.4clicks.com/resources/publications/

So, if your an Owner, AE, or Contractor and wish to get a lot of small renovation, repair, sustainability construction projects done on-time and on-budget and truly partner to the benefit of all parties…JOC could be just what you are looking for.