Exploring the Barriers to Implementing the Integrated Project Delivery Method

Abstract

The willingness of Kuwait’s construction industry to implement the new and emerging delivery system, the Integrated Project Delivery method (IPD), was explored in this research. As general conclusions to the barriers to IPD are already established by existing literature, this research aims to identify the specific barriers to IPD by evaluating the willingness of non-IPD teams to implement the principles of IPD. Data was collected from members engaged in multiple construction projects located in Kuwait. Statistical analyses were performed on the collected data to examine differences and similarities in their responses. A Delay Index variable revealed that ongoing Design-Bid-Build (DBB) projects are suffering a delay that amounts to half their original construction duration and that is almost double the delay incurred on Design-Build (DB) projects, which suffered a lesser delay. The data was further analyzed based on the respondents’ project delivery system, project sector, years of experience, and project party. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents working in Kuwait were willing to implement most of IPD’s principles. Astonishingly, respondents working on DBB projects were more willing to implement the principles of IPD than those working on DB projects. The respondents from both the public and private sectors were equally willing. The main contractors were found to be less willing to implement IPD than all the other project parties. Moreover, the most prominent barriers prohibiting most respondents from implementing IPD was their unwillingness to sign a contract that includes liability waivers and one that includes IPD’s organizational hierarchical structure. The findings of this research contribute to the current body of knowledge by exploring the construction industry’s willingness to implement IPD and by simultaneously identifying the specific barriers to its implementation, as well as identifying where these barriers lie. These findings may be used as evidence by owners or industry pioneers in promoting the implementation of IPD in their respective organizations.