How To Use A

Partnering Approach
For A Construction Project:

A Client Guide

B y Sarah Peace and

John Bennett CIOB
In recent times, there has been a growing awareness that accepting the Foreword by
lowest priced bid does not always provide the best value for money. Zara Larnont
Successive UK construction industry review reports (namely the Latham
Report, 1994; the Egan Report, 1998; NAO Report, 2001) rightly emphasised
the importance of the partnering arrangements in order to facilitate team
working across contractual boundaries.

Partnering is an important part of the project management process. It

incorporates a set of actions that project teams take, working in cooperation,
to improve their joint performance. Generally, these actions are: agreeing
mutual objectives, working to agreed decision making processes, and
actively searching for improvements in performance. In my view, partnering
on any given project provides the best balance of cost, time, risk, quality and
performance, for the parties involved in attaining the best value for money.

This CIOB guide, in my opinion, provides accurate, authoritative, brief,

and forceful guidance for adoption of a partnering arrangement, for both a
short or long term relationship, and in the provision of goods and services
alike. I strongly commend this valuable CIOB publication, which promotes
the practice and development of partnering to all who can benefit.

Dr Sarah Peace (formerly Sarah Jayes) and Professor John Bennett have About the Authors
established reputations based on research into contemporary practice in
the construction industry and publication of the results in widely used
guides to best practice. Their joint work includes the influential Trusting the
Team and The Seven Pillars of Partneriizg.
I
Contents

Part 1: Deciding Whether to Use Partnering

1. Partnering Explained

2. The Benefits of Partnering

3. When to Use Partnering

Key Points

Part 2: Putting Partnering into Practice

4. The First Partnering Workshop

5. Mutual Objectives

6. Decision Making

7. Performance Improvements

8. Partnering Charter

9. Follow-up Workshops

10. Controlling Quality

11 Controlling Time

12 Controlling Cost

13 Maintaining Progress

14 Final Workshop

Key Points
Deciding Whether to Use Part I
Partnering
The Partnering Guide is based on current best practice to help you as a The Partnering Guide
client decide whether to use partnering. It draws on extensive research,
including several hundred case studies of project teams successfully
putting partnering into practice. They show that partnering can provide
substantial benefits for everyone involved with construction projects.
Achieving these takes time and effort but the benefits far outweigh the
costs.

This guide assumes that you have read the introductory guide: Hozu to Use
the Construction lndustry Successfully: A Client Guide and as a result of
acting on its advice, you have appointed a Project Sponsor and Client
Advisor. With their help you have decided whether you need a straight
forward building or an original design and whether to use a traditional,
management or design build approach. This guide further assumes that
you have read the CIOB guide that describes the approach you have chosen,
and therefore you know the type of construction industry firms you need
to employ.

This guide is arranged in two parts. The key points are listed at the end of
each part and they can be read first if you want to get a quick overview of
the guide. Equally they will provide a quick reminder of the key points
after you have read the guide.

Part 1 tells you as the client what you need to know and the actions you
need to take to decide whether to use partnering. Part 2 is for clients who
have decided to use partnering. It provides detailed information about best
practice that will help clients ensure that their project team make best use
of partnering.

The following diagram illustrates where this guide fits within the CIOB’s The Key Choices
overall scheme of client guides.

Established
\

1
 1 Partnering Explained

Partnering Explained Partnering means working in cooperation with the construction industry
firms you employ to find ways of working together that best serve the
interests of everyone involved, including of course you, the client.

Partnering requires all the individuals and firms involved in a construction

project to agree mutual objectives that they are fully committed to achieving.
It requires them to agree how they will make decisions, including how they
will resolve problems. It requires them to agree specific improvements to
their normal performance that they will seek to achieve. It is good practice
to produce a written record of the agreed actions in clear punchy
statements that form what is often called the Partnering Charter.

The following diagram illustrates the three essential elements of

Partnering.

/
Objectives I

/’ - --V’A L T \ -. \
\

The Need for Experienced The discussions leading to the agreement of the Partnering Charter require
Professionals the full involvement of your Project Sponsor to ensure that what is agreed
fully takes account of your organisation’s interests. The discussions also
require the construction industry firms you employ to be represented by
experienced professionals with the authority needed to ensure that their
own firm’s interests are fully taken into account in reaching firm agreements.
These people are sometimes described as Partnering Champions.

Best practice partnering requires the continued involvement of your Project

Sponsor and the Partnering Champions throughout the project. This helps
ensure that firms brought into the project team a t later stages of the project
understand and act on the basis of the Partnering Charter.

2
The Benefits of Partnering 2

Partnering can provide large benefits for everyone involved in construction The Benefits of
projects. Case studies show that compared to established approaches, Partneving
projects that use partnering can achieve high levels of efficiency and the
resulting savings can be used to provide whatever specific improvements
in performance the project team agree.

A partnering team selected on the basis of the advice at the end of Part 1 of
this guide will produce a good building that gives you the performance
and quality you need, meets your time and cost requirements, and does all
this safely without exposing you to unexpected risks. However, partnering
helps project teams provide more than normal competence and a decision
should be made about the specific performance improvement the project
team will aim to achieve.

Specific improvements over and above the industry’s normal performance can
be achieved because partnering, when it is used properly, is more efficient
than established approaches. The benefits come from giving the specialist
teams who form project teams the opportunity to find better designs,
more efficient ways of constructing buildings, and more effective ways to
undertake their work, particularly more effective ways of communicating
with each other.

Case studies show that the benefits steadily increase as project teams
become used to cooperating together over a series of projects. This is often
called Strategic Partnering. All the various possible benefits can be most
easily measured as reductions in cost and time. This is not to suggest that
these are the most important improvements to aim for, although many
clients and project teams will seek improvements in cost and time. These
just happen to be the most convenient units of measurement to use in
comparing the performance of different approaches.

3
 The Scale of the
Benefits

-
The following diagram shows the scale of benefits achieved on projects
using best practice partnering compared with the construction industry's
traditional approach (the traditional approach is indexed to 100 for both
cost and time).

1O(

75
Cost achieved

Time achieved

50

25

I
Traditional I Proiect I Strategic I Strategic I
Approach Partnering ' Partnering led ' Partnering led
by the Client by Construction
Industry Firms

This data is described in Tlre Seurrr P i l h of Portrrerblg: A pride to srcorrd grrreratioii

pnrtrzering by John Bennett and Sarah Jayes, puhlished hy Thomas Telford in 1998

The Costs of Partnering There are costs involved in partnering including additional Project Sponsor
time on the project, taking extra care in selecting construction industry firms,
providing training for the people involved in the project in skills such as
cooperative decision making or project management techniques, and
holding partnering workshops. These costs are taken into account in the
diagram on the previous page which illustrates the net benefits achieved
by best practice projects using partnering.

4
When to Use Partnering 3

All construction projects can benefit from best practice partnering. When t o Use Partnering
However, achieving these benefits requires the client, or more likely the
Project Sponsor, to work in cooperation with the project team. As a client
with little or no experience of using the building industry, you should use
partnering only if you employ construction industry firms that are already
well experienced in cooperative ways of working.

Before looking for such firms, the following questions will help you decide Questions for Clients t o
whether you should continue considering partnering. Establish if Partnering
is Appropriate

Do you accept that working in cooperation with your project team can
provide more benefits for you than if everyone concentrates on looking
after their own interests?

Do you want the construction industry firms you employ to make a fair
profit?

These first two questions need to be answered with a confident ’Yes’. The
whole point of partnering is to make everyone involved better off, so if you
feel uncomfortable with either of these questions, partnering may not be
for you.

Are you prepared for your Project Sponsor to be entirely open about
your organisation’s interests in discussions with the construction industry
firms you employ?

Are you prepared to accept your Project Sponsor being questioned by

construction industry firms that justifiably expect full and open
answers?

Are you willing for your Project Sponsor to join a cooperative search for
solutions to problems as and when they arise during the project without
trying to allocate blame to individuals or firms?

Are you willing for your organisation to make decisions quickly if that is
needed for the good of the project?

Are you willing to replace your Project Sponsor if the rest of the project
team decide they are not acting in a manner consistent with partnering?

You should answer ‘Yes’ to a t least some of these questions because they
define the benefits you want from partnering. If you do not want any of
these benefits, there is no point in partnering.

5
 Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
designs that will increase the benefits that your new building provides?

Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
ways of making sure your project meets its budget and completion date?

Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
ways of making sure your new building is fully complete with zero
defects when it is handed over to you?

Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
ways of producing your building more quickly than normal?

Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
ways of producing your building at less than the normal cost?

Do you want your Project Sponsor to work with the project team to find
ways of providing other benefits for your organisation?

You should be able to answer 'Yes' to all these questions. They go to the
heart of partnering and if you have doubts about any of these actions,
partnering may not be for you.

Selecting Construction If you want to continue considering the use of partnering for your
Industry Firms construction project, you should ask your Project Sponsor to identify
construction industry firms competent to undertake the required work and
willing to undertake the actions partnering requires.

The first step in selecting construction industry firms is to decide what they
are required to do. This means you have made the key choices and so know
whether you will use a design build, management or traditional approach.
The CIOB guides to these main approaches describe the kind of construction
industry firms you need to put each of them into practice. These guides
also provide advice on the best ways of selecting these firms.

The CIOB guides to each of the main approaches suggest questions that the
Project Sponsor and Client Advisor should ask during the overall process
of selecting consultants and contractors. The following additional
questions are designed to ensure that the selected consultant or contractor
has the right attitude and experience for partnering.

Questions for Are you willing to use partnering?

Construction Industry
How do you suggest partnering is put into practice on this project?
Firms about Partnering
Why have you suggested this particular approach to partnering?

6
What is your firm’s experience of partnering?

What has your firm done to ensure you will make an effective contribution
to partnering?

What improvements in performance has your firm achieved over the last
five years?

What actions are being taking to achieve those improvements?

How satisfied are your clients?

How do you know how satisfied they are?

What experience does your firm have of partnering with other

members of the project team?

Do you have reservations about partnering with any of the other members?

Do you have ideas for making sure the performance and quality of the
client’s building are better than the construction industry’s norms?

Do you have ideas for making sure my building provides the maximum
possible value within my budget?

Do you have ideas for reducing the cost of my building?

Do you have ideas that will help ensure my building is completed as

quickly as possible?

Do you have ideas for ensuring that the construction stage is carried out safely?

Do you have ideas for making sure that my building is handed over with
zero defects?

What unique contribution to the project do you believe your firm wlll make?

Do you think it is a good idea to base cost control on an open book

approach to the financial accounts that relate to my project and if so, why?

Do you think it is important for all the firms involved in my project to make
a fair profit?

Are you prepared to enter into a contract that includes no excuses for
failing to deliver what you agree to provide for the money we agree by the
agreed completion date?

What circumstances do you think justify not delivering exactly what you
have agreed?

7
Making the Choice Answers should give you confidence that the people who will form your
project team understand partnering, are experienced in using it and have
clear ideas about how they plan to apply partnering to your project.
Answers should also make it clear that the firms you employ fully support
their people in your project team in using partnering.

You should look for people who are competent in their own specialism as
evidenced by their track record. They should be good communicators and
particularly able to describe their ideas in terms understandable to people
outside their own specialism. They should show that they can defend their
professional judgments and be open to question and challenge by people
from other specialisms. They should show that they respect, and can take
account of, different points of view including being prepared to change
their mind when someone suggests a better idea.

The people and firms you select should be open about their own business.
They should be happy for you to examine their accounts insofar as they
relate to your project. They should be willing to allow people they work
with to experiment, try new ideas and not need to allocate blame if things
go wrong. They should have a culture that searches relentlessly for success,
sees problems as opportunities to find better answers, and constantly
wants to do better.

An important characteristic of firms experienced in partnering is that they

develop efficient and cooperative relationships with their main suppliers.
Leading firms in the construction industry have adopted supply chain
management and their key suppliers contribute to project decisions as full
members of a partnering team. You should look for evidence that the firms
you select have such well developed supply chains.

Above all you should feel that you can trust the people and firms you
select. That is you can trust them to be competent, not to promise more
than they can deliver, and stick to what they have agreed.

If you find firms that meet all these criteria, you can be confident that using
partnering is sensible for you.

However, if you cannot find firms that give you this confidence, you
should not use partnering on your project. Doing so would be to invite
problems and may lead to a worse outcome than using one of the industry’s
established approaches.

8
Key Points

This guide is for clients who have decided on a standard building or an Part 1: Deciding Whether
original design. They have also decided on either a traditional, management t o use Partnering
or design build approach and want to consider using partnering for their
construction project.

Partnering means clients and construction firms working in cooperation to

find more efficient ways of producing new buildings.

The essential elements of partnering are agreed mutual objectives, decision

making systems, and specific improvements to the industry’s normal
performance.

Partnering requires clients and construction firms to be represented by

experienced professionals.

Partnering teams achieve good performance in respect of quality, time, cost

and safety, and specific improvements over this normal performance.

Partnering teams that cooperate together over a series of projects achieve

improvements in performance equivalent to reductions of 50% in cost and
80% in time.

Partnering involves costs in the client representatives being more involved,

including training and partnering workshops.

Inexperienced clients should employ construction firms already well

experienced in using partnering.

Construction firms should be selected using the advice in the CIOB client
guide to the traditional, management or design build approach modified to
ensure the firms have good partnering experience.

Construction firms should understand partnering, be experienced in using

it, and have clear ideas about how it applies to the client’s project.

The people who form the project team should be competent in their own
specialism, good communicators, open to new ideas, and trustworthy.

Construction firms should be open, willing to allow their people to try new
ways of working and not try to allocate blame if things go wrong.

Construction firms should have efficient supply chains.

Clients should use partnering only if they can select construction firms that
meet all these criteria.

9
 Part 2 Putting Partnering into
Practice
Part 2 of this guide is intended for clients who have decided to use
partnering. It provides detailed information about best practice that will
help clients ensure that their project team is making best use of partnering.

Key Members of the Partnering is put into effect at workshops attended by all the key members
Project Team of the project team. When you have decided to use partnering and whether
you will use a traditional, design build or management approach, your first
action is to make sure all the key project team members have been appointed.
The key members are everyone who can make a significant difference to
the success of your project. These should include your Project Sponsor. At
this point it is sensible to ensure that the Project Sponsor, who may well be
a task force rather than just one individual, represents all the important
interests in your organisation. These may include your finance department,
those who will use the new building, those who will be responsible for
running and maintaining the building once you occupy it, unions, influential
neighbours, shareholders, and perhaps others. The type of construction
industry firms who make up the project team depend on whether you use
a design build, management or traditional approach. The CIOB guides to
each of these approaches identify the key project team members.

Case studies show that effective partnering workshops on large, complex

projects take two complete days. However on smaller projects this can be
reduced to one full day. On a small construction project that requires just a
few firms that already work well together, an effective first workshop will
take less time, maybe as little as half a day.

Partnering workshops are a substantial investment in time and resources

for the people involved. It is justified because partnering is not easy to use
well and it takes something as substantial as the first workshop to get a
project team off on the right basis. It is justified because the potential
benefits considerably exceed the costs. It is further justified because a well
run workshop can give you a great deal of confidence that the project team
will use your money well.

10
 The First Partnering Workshop

The first workshop is a crucial step in ensuring that partnering delivers the The First Partnering
potential benefits. All the key members of the project team should meet at Workshop
a neutral venue as soon as they have had time to understand your project
and make sure it is feasible and will go ahead. The people who attend
must be those who will work day-to-day on your project. It is not
acceptable for firms to send a senior representative, a salesman or anyone
other than a person who will be a full team member during the project.
They must have the authority to enter into agreements on behalf of their
firm. It is not acceptable for anyone at a workshop to delay decisions by
having to refer back to their boss.

Those attending should be isolated from other work so they can concentrate
totally on ensuring that your project has the best possible chance of success.
The workshop should be run by an experienced partnering facilitator
drawn from outside the project team so they are clearly seen to be
independent. An important part of the facilitator’s role is prior to the
workshop. This is to interview those who will attend to explain the purposes
of the workshop, how it will be conducted and identify their interests and
concerns.

The aims of the workshop are to establish a firm basis for the project team Aims of the First
to develop into a really effective team, to agree mutual objectives, decision Partnering Workshop
making procedures, and specific measurable improvements over normal
performance.

A typical agenda for a first workshop where the project team members Agenda for the First
have little previous experience of working together is shown below. Where Partnering Workshop
you are able to appoint a team already used to partnering together, the
initial teambuilding aspects take less time and the project specific decisions
can be taken much further. In particular experienced partnering teams are
likely to concentrate on one or two potential big improvements in
performance. Even though using an experienced partnering team has
distinct advantages, many construction projects bring together firms and
people who have not worked together on projects that use partnering.
In such situations, the typical agenda provides a good starting point.

I Day One Day Two

11
 Task Forces 3n large or complicated projects it may be necessary for the first
Norkshop to set up one or more task Sorces to tackle difficult issues,
issemble more information about the project, make proposals for a
specific improvement in performance, or deal with some other matter that
:annot be dealt with at the first workshop. The workshop then reconvenes
-hree or four weeks later for one day with exactly the same membership to
.eceive task force reports and complete the work of the first workshop. It is
North taking whatever time is necessary to get the best possible decisions
‘rom the first workshop because it has a decisive effect on your project’s
juccess. It is usually best for the client to pay the costs of partnering
yvorkshops. The costs have to be covered somewhere in the total project
iosts and by paying directly for workshops you avoid wasting time and
:esources negotiating over how to share the costs and debates about
whether these should be seen as part of construction industry firms’
sverheads or recovered in some other way. It also clearly demonstrates your
zommitment to making sure that partnering delivers its potential benefits
3n your project.

Teambuilding The first task in the first workshop is to build a basis for real teamworking.
There are well established techniques Sor helping people to cooperate.
Partnering facilitators use these to encourage people to be open about their
3wn interests in ways that build up trust and team-spirit.

Project Sponsor‘s Role The Project Sponsor should fully join in the Sacilitator’s use of teambuilding
techmques to demonstrate your organisation’s commitment to partnering.
They should be positive and creative in suggesting ways of ensuring the
project is a success. They should encourage open, critical discussion of their
ideas. They should encourage everyone to make suggestions and say what
they really think about all the issues discussed. They must encourage others
to take the lead as their specialism becomes central to ideas being considered
at the workshop.

Essential Team Roles It is sensible to check that all the essential team roles are likely to be filled
by at least one member of your project team. Effective teams respect diversity
and understand that different points of view and ways of working are
valuable and should be welcomed, provided of course they are aiming a t
the same mutual objectives. There are well established lists of the essential
roles in successful teams and the facilitator may well use one of these lists
to check that your project team is likely to develop effective teamwork.

Dealing with Problem One very important matter at the first workshop is to deal with anyone
Individuals who clearly does not want to use partnering. If they are unwilling to
discuss their interests openly and honestly, if they are unable or
unwilling to discuss other peoples’ interests in a cooperative way, if they
do not want to look for mutual objectives, cooperative decision making
systems, or improvements in performance, their position as part of the
team must be questioned. If you are not convinced they will change their
approach, they must be replaced.

12
Mutual Objectives 5

The central strength of partnering is motivating the project team to Mutual Objectives
cooperate in achieving mutual objectives that give all of them more than
they would get from using the construction industry’s established
approach. Agreeing really effective mutual objectives requires everyone to
be totally open about their own interests. It is acceptable for the client to
say they must have the building finished by a specific date and the budget
is fixed and cannot be increased. It is acceptable for the contractor to say they
need to earn a specified level of profit and cover all their costs including a
fair allocation of overheads. It is acceptable for designers to say they need
time and resources to produce the best designs. It is acceptable for
managers to say they need everyone to use specific management tools to
control quality, time and cost.

Once all the interests have been stated, they should be openly discussed in Prioritise Interests
terms of which interests are essential and which would be good to have
and the priorities people attach to them. Then the workshop should brainstorm
possible ways of achieving everyone’s essential needs. It can stimulate a
creative search if the workshop considers what innovations would be
needed to give everyone everything they want.

The workshop should then have a free ranging discussion based on a

consideration of needs, wants and priorities. This should continue until
there is a consensus on realistic mutual objectives. The workshop must
ensure that no one has serious reservations about successfully achieving the
mutual objectives. It must be clear that everyone fully believes the mutual
objectives take account of their own interests more completely than relying
on the construction industry’s traditional approach. In other words it is
crucial to successful partnering that everyone is committed to achieving
the mutual objectives because they believe doing so is in their own best
interests.

Any team member reluctant to cooperate may need more evidence that Uncooperative Team
partnering will benefit everyone, including themselves and their firm. Members
They may need training in cooperative decision making. They may need more
reassurance that their firm supports the use of partnering. These things can
take time which may well not be available given the project objectives and
so it is often best to ask their firm to replace an uncooperative person with
someone who wants to use partnering.

Another possibility is that the uncooperative person is a talented individual

who will make a significant contribution to the success of the project but
will not be a team player. If you want them to remain in the project team
and use partnering, their work must be ring fenced with defined inputs
and outputs so the rest of the team can use partnering around those
constraints. This is not ideal but if you want a talented maverick in the
project team, it is best to create a space for them in a way that does not
prevent the rest of the team partnering effectively.

13
6 Decision Making

Decision Making he workshop next agrees how the project team will make decisions. The
ey choice between a standard building and an original design is central
> the choice of decision system. In both cases the aim is to encourage
ooperative decision making directed to achieving the mutual objectives.

Standard Buildings i the case of a standard or straight forward building the decision making
ystem will rely primarily on the construction industry firms’ established
nswers and communication systems. These are likely to be information
rchnology plus a clear pattern of meetings. A typical pattern of meetings
)r a standard construction project is given below.

Meeting Who Attends and What happens

A work package is the work involved in a main element or system of the
building. These include substructure, structure, external cladding, internal
divisions, main services (lighting, heating, cooling, water supply, waste
disposal, communication, security, etc.), internal finishes and fittings, and
external works. Separate work package meetings are needed for each main
element and system.

Decision making on projects using an original design needs to be more Original Design
flexible. It will rely more on face-to-face meetings especially in the early
stages of design. The intensive interaction between project team members
needed for real creativity can be helped by establishing a project office for
all the key people to work together. This can result in exciting designs,
good communications, fast and efficient working and an altogether more
successful project. There are however costs associated with a project office,
not least taking people out of their normal office and away from the
support this provides. All these issues need to be considered at the workshop
and may need to be investigated by a task force before a final decision is
made.

Original designs often require many different firms and people to be

brought into the project team for relatively short periods of time to allow
ideas and possibilities to be explored. It is also difficult to predict exactly
which firms and people will be needed at the outset. As design decisions
are made, this all becomes clearer. Working in this evolving, flexible way
means that project teams work through a series of stages marked by key
decision points. They plan ahead only as far as the next key decision point
which is marked by a workshop a t which the project is reviewed and the
next stage planned.

The overall planning of projects using original designs is of necessity

flexible and uncertain in the early stages. Your own commitment to a firm
completion date and a fixed budget will determine the degree of flexibility
the project team are allowed. These are absolutely crucial decisions for you
to make and you must ensure the project team fully understands how
much flexibility they have. It is possible to have an original design, good
quality, and a fixed completion date and budget. If the workshop decides
this is what the project team will set out to achieve, the descriptions of best
practice quality, time and cost control in Chapters 10, 11 and 12 of this
guide will help them decide the best way of working. In making their
decisions, the project team should bear in mind that no matter how
challenging the mutual objectives, projects using original designs work
through stages marked by key decision points. The diagram on the next
page shows a typical pattern of key decision points and main stages on a
project using an original design.
 Key Decision Points

Main Stage Key Decisions

Project Meetings Meetings take place between the key decision points as they are needed. It
is common for there to be separate meetings to deal with design, time and
cost. They are coordinated by a core team of the small number of senior
decision makers. This normally includes one, or at the most two, people
who represent the client. The lead designer and most senior construction
manager should be members of the core team. The core team normally
meets every week to ensure the project is making good progress towards
the next key decision and deals with any problems that have not been
resolved at a technical or managerial level.

In addition to the core team, day-to-day coordination is needed. This is

provided automatically when a project office has been set up. In the
absence of a project office, specific arrangements for the communication of
design, time and cost decisions need to be agreed at the first workshop so
that everyone involved in the project always has access to the up-to-date
design and decisions about time and costs.

Much of the day-to-day coordination can be provided by information

technology that allows separate firms to share common computer systems
so information is available and up-to-date wherever it is needed. At its
best, information technology gets close to providing a virtual project office.
Even when a project team has the best information technology, there will
still be a need for face-to-face meetings to find the best designs and
construction methods. The pattern of these meetings should be agreed at
the first workshop.

16
The list given on Page 16 may help suggest what is needed but the emphasis
and balance of meetings may well be different to reflect your project’s
specific priorities. The Project Sponsor should ensure that all these matters
are considered and that the answers agreed make sense.

A particular issue that should be decided at the first workshop is how Problem Resolution
problems will be resolved quickly before they grow into disruptive
disputes. Best practice is to have a formal structure for dealing with problems
where they arise, a t the level where the issues involved are understood
in practical terms. The problem resolution procedure should set a
predetermined and short timescale for finding a solution. Two days is a
sensible limit. If a solution acceptable to everyone affected cannot be found,
the procedure should require the problem to be referred to a group with
wider responsibilities within the project to resolve within a further two
days. If this management level cannot solve the problem it is referred to the
core team to resolve within three days. These three levels of dispute
resolution are often called technical, managerial and political. It is intended
that at the political level the long term interests of the parties involved are
taken into account so there is every reason to expect a solution to be found.

The problem resolution procedure illustrated on the next page is not

contractual but is a serious attempt to resolve problems without recourse
to contractual remedies. These can sour relationships and make partnering
less likely to be successful. Every effort should be made to solve problems
quickly and not resort to formal contractual positions.

It is unhelpful in resolving problems to try to allocate blame for the

problem. First of all it is extremely difficult to be certain where blame
actually lies. The vast majority of problems result from weaknesses in the
project systems which on projects using partnering have been jointly
agreed. Second if you have picked the best team, they remain the best team
even if a problem arises. They need to be encouraged to concentrate on
finding the best answer not forced into defending their own interests. Best
practice partnering is to concentrate on solving problems and pay everyone
the costs they have incurred in undertaking the project so that no firms are
relatively disadvantaged. The description of cost control on page 26 of this
guide explains how this can be achieved in ways consistent with a fixed
budget.

An integral part of agreeing the decision making procedures is to decide

how quality, time and cost will be controlled. Pages 23 to 25 provide
descriptions of interesting and effective control systems that have been
used to support successful partnering. Your project team may prefer other
approaches, in which case the systems described may provide a useful
starting point for the discussion of what is best for your project.

17
Problem Resolution
Procedure

Problem
moves up to
the next level

J
Performance Improvements 7

The point of partnering is to provide improvements over and above the Performance
construction industry’s normal performance. The improvements allow Improvements
everyone involved to benefit. In other words improvements in performance
underpin the agreed mutual objectives.

Improvements do not happen by chance; they have to be planned and

worked a t relentlessly. The first workshop agrees exactly what measured
improvements will be achieved and sets in train the actions needed to
achieve them. The list below shows some improvements over normal
established performance identified during research into successful partnering
projects.

Improvements to aim for

It is sensible to aim for one substantial improvement. It is possible to

achieve two distinct improvements on one project but aiming at more will
raise a real risk of failing on all of them. It is of course important to ensure
that the improvement is not achieved at the expense of other aspects of
performance. This means ensuring the project team have a clear picture of
established normal performance and are committed to not falling below it.

There are well established techniques that help improve performance. The
table on the next page lists some of the most widely used techniques.

19
 Techniques For
Achieving Performance
Improvements Tec hniques

1 20
Partnering Charter 8

At the end of the first workshop, it is best practice to produce an agreed Partnering Charter
record of the mutual objectives, decision making procedures and planned
improvements in performance in the form of a Partnering Charter. This is
a brief, clear statement of how partnering will be put into effect to ensure
the success of the project from everyone’s point of view. The Partnering
Charter is often signed by everyone present at the first workshop to signal
their commitment to what has been agreed.

It helps to have the Partnering Charter prominently displayed in offices,

factories and construction sites where project work is underway. The
Project Charter is sometimes turned into a plastic card that project team
members can carry in their wallet as a frequent reminder of what they are
working to achieve.

The following illustration is based on ideas from case studies of successful

partnering projects to show the kind of statements included in Partnering
Charters.

We will cooperate to produce new offices that represent outstanding

value for the client.

We will cooperate to ensure that all members of the project team make
their agreed profits.

The total cost to the client of the new offices will not exceed €15m.

The running and maintenance costs will be no more than 50% of those
in the client’s existing offices.

The new offices will be handed over a t 12.00 noon on 31 March 2004,
fully complete, with zero defects.

We will cooperate to ensure that no reportable accidents occur during

construction.

We will solve problems at the level in the project team where they occur
in less than 48 hours.

We will use a common project office to ensure fast and accurate

communication throughout the project team.

21
 9 Follow-up Workshops

Actions Clients Should The first workshop establishes the basis for partnering. It is best practice
Take During a Project to hold follow up workshops regularly to ensure that the mutual objectives
Using Partnering and the planned improvements in performance are being achieved, and the
decision making procedures are working well. The first of the follow up
workshops should be about one month after the first workshop. The level
of project success should determine how frequently it is necessary to hold
further workshops. It is unwise for partnering workshops to occur more than
six months apart even on very large projects. It is sensible to hold a workshop
when significant stages in the project are reached or when significant new
members join the project team.

The follow up workshops should be organised in much the same way as

the first workshop. However, on projects that are going well they may need
only one day. Where the facilitator, in interviewing project team members
prior to the workshop, identifies concerns, unresolved problems or major
opportunities to make big improvements to the way the project is being
run, two days may well be justified. As described. earlier, on small projects,
partnering workshops may need no more than half a day. The follow up
workshops review the mutual objectives, decision making procedures and
planned improvements in performance. The aim is to agree that what was
originally agreed remains the best basis for the project, or that specific
changes are needed. Having confirmed or changed the Partnering Charter,
the workshop decides whether specific actions are needed to ensure the
project is successful.

Case studies show that follow up workshops often make improvements to

the project management systems used to control quality, time and cost. The
following descriptions bring together the best features of current practice
on successful partnering projects to give you ideas that can be discussed by
your project team at follow up workshops.

Standard Forms of Some clients incorporate the Partnering Charter in the formal contracts
Contract with the project team members and some standard forms of contract in use
in the industry provide for this. You should discuss this issue with your
project team. The aim should be to ensure that the Partnering Charter is
taken seriously and acted upon by everyone involved. If it helps to
incorporate it in formal contracts, it makes sense to do this. Whether or not
it is incorporated in formal contracts, once the Partnering Charter is signed,
your project is on its way towards using partnering successfully. Standard
forms of contract that support partnering include the New Engineering
Contract Partnering Option from the Institute of Civil Engineers and the
Standard Form of Contract for Project Partnering (PPC 2000) from the
Association of Consulting Architects.

Project Insurance Case studies show that the requirements of insurance companies can
inhibit cooperative teamworking. The best way of avoiding this is for you
as client to take out insurance for the project as a whole in place of the
individual policies taken out by all the individual firms involved.

22
Controlling Quality 10

Best practice quality control is based on everyone involved taking Controlling Quality
responsibility for quality. This is consistent with the teamworking
approach of partnering. It is vital that effort is put in right from the start of
the project to ensure that everyone takes quality seriously. The client and
all the other senior members of the project team should emphasise the
importance of quality at every opportunity, ask questions about it, and
explicitly discuss it at all project meetings.

Good quality depends on involving the contractor in design and the

designer in construction. They both have specialist knowledge which is
needed to produce practical design information in the right sequence and
to ensure that it is correctly interpreted on site. It also needs clients to play
a key role in employing only consultants and contractors who invest in
quality.

Quality begins with the design consultants own quality assurance systems.
They define what is required for design quality and provide an essential
framework for defining what contractors' quality assurance systems should
provide.

During the design stages, the project team should undertake careful risk
analysis of the design quality of the end product, and of the implications
for health and safety issues during construction on site.

Contractors' quality assurance systems must provide an overall quality

plan for construction, general quality control procedures and specific
procedures for each element and system. The project team should check the
contractors' procedures to ensure that they include everything needed. As
long as contractors have good quality control systems it is best to rely on
self certification by the contractors. However, this should be backed up by
physical audits of the quality control systems on site.

Physical audits by design consultants check that the contractor is carrying

out work in compliance with the procedures, and check that the procedures are
effective by making random checks of the finished work.

Any quality problems identified must be investigated to identify whether

the causes are deficiencies in the procedures or in their application. This
can lead to changes to the procedures or further training for the contractor's
staff in quality procedures.

All site staff must attend a health and safety course, including quality
control procedures before being allowed on site. Quality should be linked
to contract payment mechanisms by defining completion of work as
inclusive of completing the relevant quality procedures. This reinforces the
importance of contractors taking quality seriously and in particular of
giving early warning of quality problems.

23
 11 Controlling Time

Controlling Time Best practice time control systems use an overall programme that begins
with the completion date required by the client and works back to establish
the fixed milestones that must be achieved to ensure the completion date
is achieved. It is normally sensible for the milestones to be at monthly
intervals.

In the early stages of projects the definition of the work required to meet a
milestone needs to be flexible so that design decisions can be absorbed.
Then as firmer decisions are made, the work required to meet the
milestones can be defined more precisely. The aims are to achieve the
completion date, and to find the best possible answers.

Time control is the responsibility of the whole project team. Each

consultant and contractor undertakes the detailed planning of their own
work within the overall programme of milestones. Any flexibility in their
detailed programme of work needed by the next milestone is managed by
the consultant or contractor undertaking the work.

Checking and coordinating the detailed programmes is undertaken by a

senior construction manager on behalf of the project team. Prior to the start
of the work leading to each milestone, the senior construction manager
produces a detailed overall programme of the work required to meet the
next milestone. This identifies the key deadlines for information from the
client, the production of design information and any other information that
has to be provided by one consultant or contractor for another to work on.
This detailed overall programme of the work required to meet the next
milestone is reviewed and agreed by the project team at a formal meeting
at the start of the stage leading to that milestone.

The current detailed overall programme of work required to meet the next
milestone is updated every week by the senior construction manager. It
provides the basis for weekly progress meetings at which each consultant
and contractor is required to confirm that their work is on programme, that
any problems they have can be dealt with themselves, or whether they
need help from the project team. It is fundamental that this reporting is
absolutely honest and none of the project team members ever try to hide
problems. In return for this honest reporting, time is not wasted trying to
allocate blame for problems; rather there is an absolute concentration on
finding the best possible solution that will ensure the project meets the next
milestone.

The progress meetings flag up any conflicting priorities or other problems

that need project team decisions. Problems are solved, they are not allowed
to fester. When the project is approaching a milestone, the programme
becomes a key driving force.

This approach is robust enough to enable project teams to search widely for
the best possible solutions, to absorb substantial changes and design
development, and complete their projects exactly on time.

24
Controlling Cost 12

Best practice cost control begins with the budget justifed by the client's Controlling Cost
business case for the new building. This is turned into an overall cost plan
by a senior quantity surveyor consultant on behalf of the project team. The
cost plan provides a cost target for the work required to design, manufacture
and construct each of the elements and systems of the new building. The
total of the cost targets equals the client's budget so there is no unallocated
contingency allowance. The only contingencies should result from explicit
decisions by the project team a t a risk management meeting. Experience
shows that unallocated contingency allowances make it too easy for
project teams to relax their search for best value.

The overall cost plan should be reviewed and agreed at a meeting of the
project team early in the project. Some experienced clients ask their project
teams to sign the agreed cost plan as an indication that everyone is
committed to producing the best possible building within the budget.

A rigorous cost control system backed up by pressure from the client to

look for the best possible answers is key to best practice cost control. The
aim is for the project team to question every aspect of the project in searching
for the best value.

All members of the project team are responsible for the cost control of their
own work and for identifying cost threats and opportunities. They produce
individual cost reports which are consolidated by the senior quantity
surveyor into a cost tracking report for the whole project. This is updated
each week and relates current estimates of cost to each cost target. The cost
tracking report identifies any threats that cost targets may be exceeded and
any opportunities for making savings. The senior quantity surveyor also
carries out random checks on the cost control systems produced by the
consultants and contractors. The nature of these checks depends on the
payment option being used for the individual consultant or contractor.
They need to be more detailed when a cost reimbursement option is being
used than when a lump sum option is being used.

The project team meet each week to review the cost tracking report and
decide on actions needed in response to cost threats and opportunities.
Cost over-runs must be matched by savings from elsewhere in the project.
Cost control decisions are agreed by the project team. As these decisions are
agreed, their impact is incorporated in an up-dated cost plan which
becomes the basis for the next cost tracking report.

This approach to cost control will help the project team produce a good
building within the budget justified by the client's business case for the
new building.
 13 Maintaining Progress

Questions t o Ask The Project Sponsor should regularly walk around all the places where
Project Team Members project work is underway and ask a selection of these questions to project
During a Project Using team members. The answers should confirm that partnering is being
Partnering effective in delivering a successful project. Any concerns picked up as a
result of asking these questions should be raised with the rest of the
project team immediately so they can be dealt with at the next project team
meeting.

What are the agreed mutual objectives?

What are you doing to help ensure they are achieved?

What is the agreed completion date?

What are you doing to help ensure it is achieved?

What is the agreed budget for the project?

What are you doing to help ensure it is achieved?

What is your role in quality control?

What are you doing to help ensure there will be zero defects on
completion?

Are the health and safety provisions good and effective?

Have there been any serious accidents on this project?
If so what action was taken to avoid a similar accident?

Are you and your firm meeting all your quality time and cost
targets?

What are your immediate objectives for this week?

What may prevent you achieving your objectives?

What could be done to make a significant improvement to your

performance?

Do you have all the information you need to do your work to the best of
your ability?

Are the agreed decision making procedures being fully used?

Are problems being resolved quickly?
Do you have any problems that have not yet been resolved?

What significant improvement to normal performance is being achieved

on this project?
What is your contribution to ensuring this is achieved?

Are you being well paid and is your firm making a good profit?

26
FinaI Works hop 14

It is good practice to hold a final workshop in the completed building a few Actions Clients Should
weeks after your organisation has occupied it. This provides an opportunity Take a t the End of a
to celebrate a successful project. It also allows everyone to discuss the main Project Using
lessons from the project and to take them into their firms to benefit future Partnering
projects. This means discussing the following questions:

What is the client’s view of the project’s success?

What is each project team member’s view of the project’s success?
What good ideas were identified during the project?
What would now be done differently and why?
What were the main successes?
What were the main weaknesses and problems?
What is the most important lesson from the project?

27
 Points

Part 2: Putting Partnering on construction projects is guided by partnering workshops.

Partnering into Practicr
The first partnering workshop brings together the key members of the
project team at a neutral venue and uses an experienced facilitator drawn
from outside the project team to help ensure the workshop is successful.

The time allocated to the first partnering workshop and the issues dealt
with depend on the size and complexity of the project and the project
team’s partnering experience.

The first partnering workshop establishes the basis for teamworking and
makes sure all the key members of the project team will work in
cooperation.

The first workshop establishes mutual objectives that give all members of
the project team greater benefits than the industry’s established approach.

The first workshop establishes the project’s decision making system which
encourages cooperative decision making aimed at the mutual objectives.

The first workshop establishes how problems will be resolved quickly

without attempting to allocate blame at a technical, managerial or political
level so they do not fester into disputes.

The first workshop agrees one or two specific improvements over the
industry’s normal performance and agrees the actions needed to achieve
them.

Decision making on projects to produce standard buildings can rely on

established communication systems, often using information technology,
and predetermined patterns of meetings.

Decision making on projects to produce original designs is guided by a

core team of senior decision makers from the client, designers and
construction managers.

The core team organises the face-to-face meetings needed to deal with
design, time and cost between predetermined key decision points.

The key decision points are marked by workshops that review the stage
just completed, and plan the next stage.

Projects to produce original designs use information technology to support

the face-to-face meetings and this can provide a virtual project office.

Projects to produce original designs can benefit from a common project

office.

All the outcomes of the first partnering workshop should be recorded in a

Partnering Charter signed by everyone at the workshop to indicate their
commitment to what has been agreed.

Some standard forms of contract used with partnering incorporate the

Partnering Charter in formal contracts.
28
There are benefits in clients taking out project insurance to avoid
individual policies inhibiting cooperative teamworking.

Follow up workshops should be held throughout partnering projects to

ensure that partnering is being well used to achieved the agreed
mutual objectives and performance improvements.

Follow up workshops often agree actions aimed at making the quality,

time and cost control systems more effective.

Best practice quality control is based on the principle that everyone is

jointly responsible for quality and is backed up by well developed
quality control systems and random quality checks.

Best practice time control works back from the agreed completion date,
establishes fixed milestones defined as precisely as the current stage
allows, and at each milestone reviews the completed stage and plans
the next stage.

Best practice cost control is driven by the budget justified by the client’s
business case, guarantees agreed profits for construction firms and uses
cost planning to find the best possible design and construction answers.

The Project Sponsor should regularly walk around all the places where
project work is underway to ensure that partnering is being effective in
delivering a successful project.

A final workshop should be used to capture the lessons and celebrate a

successful project.

29
30
The CIOB's Client Guides are an initiative of the Chartered Building
Company and Consultancy Schemes, www.cbcscheme.org.uk

The Chartered Institute of Building

Englemere
Kings Ride
Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 7TB
www.ciob.org.uk