Is integrated project delivery sufficient to reduce adversarialism in the UK construction industry?

Abstract

Adversarialism is an endemic feature of the construction industry, resulting in devasting effects on productivity, cost, performance and client satisfaction within the industry. This can be explained by various factors of which adversarial ‘traditional’ construction contracts is one. To reduce adversarialism and to establish sustainable construction methods and practices in the United Kingdom (UK), the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method has been advanced as a solution. The critical review and analysis of relevant literature as well as prominent studies show that; although the use of IPD resulted in a better, healthier outcome in comparison to normal/traditional adversarial system, IPD still suffered from significant limitations, challenges and persistent barriers. These barriers thus indicate and necessitate the need for further research in determining a sufficient way in reducing adversarialism within the UK construction industry. One of the recommended empirical investigations include whether legislation has an influence on good faith towards reducing adversarialism. Another empirical investigation recommended is the premise that the barriers and challenges IPD present may likely be overcome by the implementation of statutory-backed good faith legislation, thus improving collaborative working. This paper will contribute to the wider knowledge of IPD in the industry and to improving the performance of the UK architecture, engineering and construction industry through collaborative working.