Explainer: Six collaborative models set to transform infrastructure delivery

Traditional methods of procuring and delivering infrastructure aren’t providing the most efficient and sustainable results that could otherwise be achieved. Keith Howell, ICE past president, acknowledged this problem in the institution’s 2023 Infrastructure Governance Code. 

“We must recognise that some of our projects have not been perceived as being successful,” he wrote. “The increasing complexity of what we deliver is a factor, but we also need to challenge mindsets, culture and the way we deliver as we reach for improved productivity and sustainability.” 

The government’s 2022 Construction Playbook, which aims to improve how public works projects are procured and delivered in the UK, urges clients to be clear about their objectives and then choose the delivery model that is most likely to produce the desired results. 

It states: “One of the most effective ways to deliver outcomes is to create contracting environments that promote collaboration, increase efficiency and drive a focus on delivery. 

Contracts should create positive relationships and processes designed to integrate and align multiple parties’ commercial objectives and incentives.” 

Examples of collaborative delivery models, discussed on the following pages, include: 

• Early contractor involvement 
• Frameworks 
• Partnering 
• Delivery partner models
• Alliancing 
• Enterprise models 

According to the ICE’s Civil Engineering Procedure, ECI occurs when “a contractor’s skills are introduced early into a project to bring design ‘buildability’ and cost efficiencies to the pre- construction phase”. 

By getting involved in the design process, the contractor can advise the design team on buildability, sequencing and risks, as well as bringing in specialist contractors and suppliers where appropriate. This approach can result in greater collaboration, innovation and certainty about cost. 

ECI is particularly well suited to large or complex undertakings, but it can be applied to projects of any size. 

A framework is an umbrella agreement between a client and its suppliers – contractors, subcontractors and consultants, for instance – setting the terms of a long-term relationship during which the client may award contracts to any supplier. 

Frameworks are widely used in public-sector organisations that procure several projects over a budgetary period. This is because, once suppliers have been appointed to a framework, there’s no need to go through a costly and time-consuming procurement process for every project. 

A framework won’t necessarily give contractors any guarantees of work. It can be based on any type of contractual and pricing arrangement, from traditional fee- or cost-based contracts to enterprise models. 

Examples include the National Highways pavement delivery framework and the Environment Agency flooding and coastal erosion risk management framework.

Partnering is a broad term used to describe any collaborative approach that encourages organisations working on a project to build mutual trust by being open and honest with each other. It requires the commitment of some, or all, parties to cooperate rather than compete. 

This approach can be applied to long-term relationships covering a series of projects (strategic partnering) or for one-offs (project partnering). 

The delivery partner model is typically applied to complex projects with fixed costs or deadlines. The client appoints a delivery partner to integrate with its own team and act as the client’s agent to procure and manage delivery. The partner understands the outcomes the client is seeking and will ensure that the project is focused on achieving these. 

This model can be used in combination with alliancing and enterprise models, depending on how they consider the client’s outcomes can be best achieved. 

Examples include the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Lower South Creek wastewater treatment plant in Sydney. 

Sometimes called integrated project delivery, particularly in the US, alliancing is where the parties enter a contractual agreement to cooperate and share risk and reward, measured against agreed performance indicators. 

The client, designer, constructor and key suppliers work as a single integrated team to deliver work under a contractual framework in which their commercial interests are aligned with the project’s objectives. 

The key difference between partnering and alliancing is: 

• With partnering, the parties retain their independence and may individually lose or gain from the relationship. 
• In an alliance, the parties form a cohesive entity that shares all risks and rewards based on an agreed formula. 

If the project fails to meet the performance expectations set for it, all parties are jointly liable for the agreed penalties. If it exceeds expectations, all parties are jointly entitled to the agreed rewards. 

The Strategic Pipeline Alliance, led by Anglian Water, is one example of alliancing. 

An enterprise model is an integrated arrangement under which the infrastructure owner, its partners, advisers and suppliers all collaborate as one enterprise. This approach, underpinned by long-term relationships, incentivises all parties to deliver better outcomes. It may be an alliance. 

The Infrastructure Client Group’s Project 13 delivery model sets out the key requirements for a successful enterprise model. They include: 

• The asset owner is central to establishing the enterprise. 
• Enterprises are brought together to deliver outcomes for the ultimate customer. 
• Reward is based on value added to the overall outcomes, not on time or volume. 
• Risk is allocated to align with capability and is not transferred through tiers of the supply chain. 

Project 13 also highlights the importance of understanding long-term performance and future operation of the asset and the need for integrated and collaborative delivery teams. 

Examples of enterprise models include East West Rail and Sellafield. 

Delivery models such as those described here are increasingly becoming the norm for infrastructure projects around the world, including for major works in the UK, Australia and the US. 

It should be noted that these collaborative arrangements call for different skills from those required by traditional adversarial forms of contract. 

Such models also require a fundamental change in governance, leadership style and behaviour from all participants if they’re to be successful.