Introduction and context

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces the integrated project delivery (IPD) concept in its more general form to frame the main themes that run through the book and notes the co-editors’ past contributions to this field. It provides an IPD overview and briefly explains a Collaboration Framework based on research that was specifically undertaken into advanced forms of IPD and how it was applied to provide a way of understanding the characteristics of various forms of IPD. The book focuses on social and public utility infrastructure projects which tend to be complex and require deep levels of collaboration and system/process integration. It addresses an often neglected issue in IPD: understanding the role of the project owner’s representative participant (OP) in an IPD arrangement and how that role and the characteristics of those acting in that role may shape or limit IPD opportunities.