Identifying issues related to integral aspects of collaborative contracts from their stakeholders' perspective

Abstract

Performance in construction is strongly dictated by the processes, technologies, and the people involved. To increase performance, the construction industry has witnessed innovations in project delivery systems - partnering or collaborative contracts is one of those. This thesis focuses on the 'people' part as one of the major factor affecting the performance of a collaborative approach. In this thesis, dispute resolution and incentive provisions have been deemed to be the most vulnerable aspects of construction in which the 'people' part can play an influential role. Collaborative contracts often include a laddered dispute resolution method which includes negotiations as the first few steps and inherently attempts to avoid litigation. Such a process oriented method promotes an inexpensive and non-adversarial approach to dispute resolution. This thesis investigates if such process oriented dispute resolution methods can eliminate the effect of the 'people' part. Moreover, it identifies issues associated with dispute resolution methods and incentive provisions typically found in construction contracts. This thesis also identifies some of the benefits and drawbacks of using an Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP).