Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
from J. P. Cullen & Sons

Cullen's integrated project delivery (IPD) approach is predicated on a team concept that will leverage skill and synergize expertise to customize solutions for your unique project. Our chief project mission is to facilitate your organizational and business goals. We will accomplish that by listening closely to your project vision, design intent, targeted objectives, and key concerns. Setting these against the backdrop of our combined knowledge and current market conditions will deepen our project understanding. The process is open, interactive, creative, and thorough, generating the kind of shared enthusiasm which sharpens focus and solidifies project commitment.

Your intended project will enter its next phase with a customized work plan, articulated through collaboration between our team of experts, your project management team, the architect, program or other consultants, the MEP team, and representatives from each key group of stakeholders.

To ensure that our firm and any other strategic partner are tightly aligned to your project goals and design vision, we will incorporate the team concept of our construction philosophy into the partnering process from the start.

Partnering Meeting

This early relationship is a key-step to establishing a foundation based on trust and confidence, clearing the way for refining a shared understanding of our client’s project. Therefore, early on, we make arrangements to hold a foundational partnership meeting to open lines of clear communication that will be instrumental in facilitating collaborative decisions throughout the preconstruction and construction phases.

Establishing Guidelines

At that early session comprised of owner, stakeholders, strategic allies, and Cullen, we develop our guidelines for project understanding and document a viable work plan. We employ an agenda that creates awareness and interaction:  

• Team Concept in Action
• Why Teams?
• Qualities of a good team
• Project Organizational Chart
• Lines of collaboration: who works with whom 
• Project Scope
• Project Goals
• Targeted Benefits
• Project Mission Statement
• Communication Process
• Establish procedures and reference forms
• Personnel availability (regular vs. urgent levels)
• Strengths Analysis 
• Discover team/personnel strengths and discuss
• Outline barriers and discuss
• Determine opportunities and discuss
• Issue Resolution Methodology
• Checks and balance system
• Problem-solving protocols
• Ensure how goals will be met
• Change Order Approval Process
• RFI process
• Submittals process
• Approval process
• Charter and Evaluation of Program
• Bringing goals, benefits, and mission together
• Under one team, one shared commitment
• Feedback and discussion  

Frequently, our leaders facilitate these meetings, bringing ideas to light in a spirit of good will that helps foster consensus and mutually agreed-upon sets of responsibilities. As the goal of this session is to harmonize talent in service of your project, Cullen depends on its leaders to demonstrate those leadership skills that will create a “win” scenario for all team members, establishing an actionable work plan through integrated project delivery.

In addition to being highly collaborative and seeking input from project team members at the onset of the project, IPD allows member companies to leverage Building Information Modeling (BIM) by creating a virtual design of every element of a construction project’s process.

The IPD process leverages the experience, talent, and input of all team members in order to obtain the best results and increase value for the owner by reducing waste and maximizing efficiency throughout the life cycle of the project— from design and fabrication to the completion of construction. As a result, IPD produces shorter delivery times than traditional practices, such as design-bid-build. The integrated approach is well-suited for projects being done in the private sector or for non-profit institutions. However, public entities in most states, such as educational institutions, cannot use IPD due to the state-legislated bidding process.

The foundational partnering meeting establishes what is, fundamentally, the business plan for your project. It is the foundational work plan for successfully delivering via IPD your building project through a shared understanding of facility requirements and targeted benefits.