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Integrated Project Delivery
Project-based professional services where design authority, owner approval, and multi-discipline coordination determine delivery.
DPR Construction
Swinerton
McCarthy
Boldt
Inside this journey
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Pre-Discovery
Align the room on outcomes, decision process, and constraints before deeper discovery.
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Stakeholder Alignment
Confirm decision roles, timeline, and each stakeholder’s success criteria and concerns (e.g., CFO risk tolerance).
Alignment Questions
Start Here: Your Project in One Sentence
- In one sentence, describe the project that brought you to consider a new delivery approach.
- What type of facility is this (select the closest)?
- What is the rough scale and budget range of the project?
- What phase are you currently in?
- Who is the primary decision-owner for the delivery model (title/role)?
- Rough timeline: when would you need construction to start?
Have You Quietly Accepted 'That’s How Projects Go'?
- If you had to pick one blunt truth: what do you believe the last delivery team got fundamentally wrong?
- How often have cost overruns, change orders, or adversarial disputes meaningfully delayed or degraded a project for you?
- When that happened, who tended to drive the blame—and what behavior from them felt worst?
- Tell the story of one past project failure that still stings—what exactly went wrong and why did it stick with you?
- How has living with those repeated failures affected your team’s appetite for risk and experimentation?
If the CFO Could Only Believe One Thing, What Would It Be?
- What is your CFO’s single biggest skepticism about shared-risk models like IPD?
- What evidence would genuinely convince your CFO that IPD reduces net cost and not just redistributes risk?
- How does your finance team currently evaluate final project costs—what documents, timelines, or audits do they require?
- How has the CFO historically responded when a project approaches budget overrun—what decisions or pressures occur?
- Who in your leadership needs to be convinced besides the CFO, and what will convince them?
Where Collaboration Actually Broke — Tell Me the Story
- What moments or decisions in past projects revealed that teams weren’t truly collaborating?
- Who typically withheld information or choices when things got hard, and why do you think they did?
- Have procurement rules or contract templates constrained collaboration? If so, which clauses or practices became barriers?
- What governance preference or owner control habit originally drove your interest in IPD?
- When adversarial behavior surfaced, what practical impacts did you see on schedule, cost, or patient/staff disruption?
- What immediate signs would tell you a proposed team is still likely to revert to adversarial habits?
What Would Success Actually Feel Like for You (and Your CFO)?
- If this project finished and your CFO smiled, what measurable outcomes were achieved?
- What are your hard targets for cost, schedule, and quality (please specify metrics or ranges)?
- What early signals during design or preconstruction would make you confident you’re on track?
- How will you operationally validate final costs—who signs off and what documentation do you require?
- Who on your internal team will be directly involved in TVD sessions and pull planning (roles/names)?
- If we saved X% off baseline target cost, how would you want the savings recognized or reinvested?
What Would Make a Shared-Savings Model Believable?
- What is your threshold for a meaningful shared-savings pool that would actually change behavior?
- What contract features or protections would you need to see to trust that the pool is fairly distributed and auditable?
- Have you reviewed audited final costs from completed IPD projects before? If yes, what raised confidence or skepticism?
- How fluent is your organization with lean construction concepts like pull planning, takt, and TVD?
- What audit documentation would your finance or legal teams insist on seeing during and after construction?
- What trade-offs would you accept to secure stronger collaboration (e.g., less prescriptive design, more shared governance)?
Ready to Try a New Way? Practical Next Steps
- What would make you say “yes” to a short pilot for IPD on this project?
- What specific commitments must your organization make for pre-deployment readiness (co-location, data access, decision authority)?
- What procurement or board approval steps could delay committing to a multi-party agreement, and how long do they typically take?
- What internal stakeholders need to be in the next conversation, and what would you like each to hear or see?
- If we proposed a short, evidence-focused first deliverable (e.g., audited comparable, TVD demo), which of these would be most persuasive?
- How soon could your team commit people and data to start a TVD kickoff?
- What’s the best way for us to follow up—email, scheduled working session, or an executive briefing—and who should be on that invite?
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Current State Mapping
Document prior project failure modes, procurement constraints, and the owner’s governance preferences that drove interest in IPD.
Current State
A Quick Project Snapshot
- What is the project name, location, and approximate construction budget?
- Which phase is the project currently in?
- What is driving this project right now—compliance, capacity, modernization, technology, other?
- Who needs to sign off for go/no-go on the delivery model (names/titles)?
- How soon does the owner need a contracting decision on delivery model?
Which Past Project Failure Haunts You Most?
- Tell us about a prior project that left leadership skeptical—what happened, in your own words?
- Which of the following factors best explain those failures?
- What were the most tangible consequences (pick all that apply)?
- When did you first see warning signs on that project—and what did they look like?
- How often have projects in your portfolio shown the same pattern?
What Procurement Rules Are Telling You 'No' Before We Start
- What procurement or policy constraints feel like the biggest obstacles to pursuing IPD here?
- Which procurement approach does your institution default to for projects of this size?
- Are there statutory or board-mandated rules (e.g., public procurement thresholds, diversity mandates, union agreements) that will affect contracting options?
- How much flexibility does your procurement/legal team typically allow for innovative contracting (e.g., multi-party agreements, target cost mechanisms)?
- What approvals (committees, legal opinions, finance sign-offs) would an IPD agreement need to pass? Please list names/titles and timing.
Who Really Makes the Calls — and How Do They Like to Decide?
- Who in your organization ultimately prioritizes trade-offs between cost, schedule, and quality—and how do they typically decide under pressure?
- Which of these best describes your governance style for capital projects?
- Which stakeholders beyond the CFO and VP of Capital Projects will need to feel heard for IPD to move forward?
- How does your leadership react when trade-offs are proposed that save cost but require shared governance or less direct owner control?
- Describe a recent decision where governance style helped—or hurt—project outcomes.
If the CFO Could Ask One Question Before Saying Yes, What Would It Be?
- What are the CFO’s top three concerns about shared-risk/shared-reward models?
- What specific evidence or documentation would make the CFO comfortable (examples: audited final cost reports, references, insurance terms)?
- Has finance previously reviewed audited outcomes from completed IPD projects? If so, what did they like or dislike?
- What minimum size, structure, or governance of a shared-savings pool would your CFO consider meaningful?
- If you had to name one non-negotiable financial control the CFO wants, what would it be?
How Transparent Can We Be With Cost & Decision Data?
- Would you be able to provide historical audited final costs and change-order logs from comparable projects for due diligence?
- Which systems hold your project cost and schedule data today?
- How comfortable is your team sharing real-time cost-to-complete and subcontractor rates with an IPD team and an independent auditor?
- What audit standards/formats must cost reporting meet (e.g., GAAP, AIA audit guide, owner-specific templates)?
- Are there confidentiality or regulatory limits (e.g., donor restrictions, patient data proximity) that would restrict data sharing? Please explain.
What Governance Would Make You Feel Safe With Shared Risk?
- What oversight mechanisms would make you comfortable that shared savings are fairly measured and distributed?
- What dispute-resolution approach would your organization accept if a multi-party disagreement arose?
- What insurance, bonding, or indemnity terms are non-negotiable for you?
- Which decision authorities would you insist retain final sign-off (examples: scope changes > X$, schedule extensions > X days)?
- Are there governance models you’d categorically reject? Why?
What Would a Low-Risk Test of IPD Look Like for You?
- If we proposed a limited pilot (e.g., a single design-phase sprint or a trade partner pull-planning pilot), which type would you be most open to trying?
- What minimal commitments would you need from your side to run that pilot (people, data, approvals, indemnities)?
- How soon could you make those commitments if the pilot addressed your top concerns?
- What would count as a successful pilot—what signals or metrics would change your mind?
- Who else should join a pilot conversation to help you decide—please list names/titles and their priority level for inclusion.
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Outcome Discovery
Define target cost, schedule, quality metrics, and the measurable signals that will prove IPD success for the owner and CFO.
Discovery Questions
Opening Chapter: A Quick Project Snapshot
- Tell us the project name, campus or facility, and the single sentence mission this capital project must accomplish for your organization.
- Where are you in the timeline today?
- What is the ballpark target cost or funding envelope (give a number or a % range relative to current estimate)?
- Who is the decision owner for budget and who will be the primary CFO-level reviewer for this project? (Name / role / best contact)
- What would a ‘win’ look like for your facilities leadership team on day one of occupancy? Be concrete — not just “on budget” but the outcomes you’d notice.
- Which outcomes are most important to you right now? (pick up to three)
If Cost Was Your North Star, Are You Sailing or Drifting?
- When you hear “target cost” what’s the first question or worry that comes to mind?
- Do you have an internal baseline estimate (e.g., AACE, RSMeans, previously audited cost) we should use to form a target cost band?
- How would you prefer the target cost be set?
- If the target cost requires scope tradeoffs, which of the following are acceptable levers? (select all that apply)
- Describe a recent decision where you accepted a scope change to save cost — what was the tradeoff and how did stakeholders react?
How Nervous Is the CFO, Really?
- If we had to put a single sentence on the CFO’s desk that would get them to consider IPD, what would that sentence have to promise or prove?
- Which of these CFO concerns is the loudest right now?
- What level of independent verification would satisfy finance — audited final costs by whom?
- How much downside risk is the owner willing to carry before the CFO requires additional guarantees or insurance? (select closest)
- Please describe any internal policies or board-level rules that would limit shared-risk agreements or require special approvals.
Quality That Doesn’t Break the Budget — What Matters Most?
- If you had to choose one non-negotiable quality outcome for this project, what would it be (clinical safety, infection control, future flexibility, etc.)?
- Which quality metrics would persuade clinicians and operations leadership that the project succeeded?
- Are there regulatory, accreditation, or licensing quality thresholds we must meet on day one? Please list them.
- How would you want quality verified and by whom (owner QA team, third-party commissioning agent, clinician sign-off)?
- Describe one past project quality failure that still causes you frustration — what happened and what would you want done differently under IPD?
Signals That Prove IPD Is Working — Beyond Final Cost
- If you had to show your board three short, objective signals at 50% design and 50% construction to prove IPD is working, what would those signals be?
- From the list below, which measurable signals would be most credible to your CFO and stakeholders? (pick up to four)
- What frequency and format of reporting would make those signals believable? (dashboard, weekly snapshot, monthly audit packet)
- Who in your organization will be responsible for validating those signals and escalating concerns?
- What are the consequences you want tied to these signals (e.g., release of shared savings, governance interventions, scope rework)?
When Timelines Slip, Who Gets Blamed? Let's Reframe That
- Imagine we hit a critical path delay — what outcome would make you feel the team handled it responsibly rather than pointing fingers?
- Which milestone dates can’t move without material operational impact?
- How much schedule float do you consider acceptable before you require acceleration money or contingency draw?
- Would you be open to paying for a controlled schedule acceleration if it protected critical milestones? If so, describe how decisions should be made and funded.
- Describe how your team prefers to resolve trade-offs between cost and schedule when both are under pressure.
How Will We Know We're Aligned — Governance & Audit Readiness
- What level of transparency do you expect on day‑to‑day costs and decisions — open books to the penny, rolled-up summaries, or something in between?
- Who on your side will sit in the governance rhythm (daily/weekly review, executive checkpoints)? Provide roles rather than names if preferred.
- Which audit rights are mandatory for you?
- What data systems (ERP, CMMS, cost systems) do we need to integrate or feed to produce credible reports?
- Tell us about your previous governance cadence — what worked, what broke, and what would you never repeat?
Signing Off: What Would Make You Confident to Commit?
- What single deliverable, document, or evidence item would move your CFO from skeptical to comfortable with an IPD multi‑party agreement?
- Would you prefer a pilot (limited-scope IPD) or a full multi-party agreement on this project?
- What legal or procurement constraints (board approvals, public procurement rules, insurance limits) must be addressed before you can sign a shared‑risk MPA?
- What timeline would you need to review draft IPD terms and reach a sign‑off decision?
- Who else should we engage now to shorten the path to commitment (CFO, General Counsel, Board member, Clinician leader)? List roles.
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Solution Experience
Walk through how integrated delivery, target value design, and shared savings resolve the customer’s past adversarial failures using their project scenarios.
Experience Meetings
- Current State & Consequence Confirmation
- Solution Experience — Scenario Walkthrough
- Financial Modeling & Shared Savings Mechanics Workshop
- CFO Executive Briefing & Validation
- Validation & Mutual Readiness Check
- Confirm the authorization path and timeline for finance/legal approval to proceed to Mutual Commit.
- Demonstrate, using the customer's own scenarios, that IPD/TVD/shared savings directly resolve the previously quantified failures.
- Obtain explicit validation from the owner and CFO that the presented IPD responses address the core problems.
- Identify any gaps in evidence or questions that must be resolved in the financial workshop.
- Modeling team to receive scenario inputs and produce a draft financial simulation for the Financial Modeling workshop
- Capture any validation objections and assign owners to close them before the CFO briefing
- Collect any missing artifacts (e.g., procurement rules or insurance certificates) identified during walkthrough
- Review Modeling Assumptions
- Produce a draft target-cost model and scenario simulations that quantify owner benefit and residual risk.
- Agree on a provisional shared savings pool size and split mechanics acceptable to owner and CFO.
- Define the audit evidence and payout triggers that will be required in the multi-party agreement.
- Identify outstanding legal/finance items required to advance to contract negotiation.
- Modeler to circulate the completed spreadsheet and sensitivity outputs
- Finance to provide any accounting constraints and approval for proposed payout timing
- Legal to draft required audit clause language and escrow mechanics for review
- Schedule CFO Executive Briefing to confirm risk thresholds and final approval path
- Opening: One-Sentence Future State for CFO
- Obtain the CFO's explicit agreement that the modeled IPD mechanics, audit process, and controls are sufficient to protect the owner's financial interests.
- Secure a clear list of any remaining CFO conditions to be resolved before multi-party agreement signature.
- Welcome & Objectives
- CFO to provide written risk thresholds and any accounting constraints required for finalization
- Finance to validate payout timing against cash-flow constraints and provide feedback
- Legal to prepare conditional multi-party agreement terms reflecting CFO conditions
- Quick Reconfirm: Current State, Consequence, Future State
- All key stakeholders explicitly validate the future state and agree to proceed (or list conditions for doing so).
- Close or assign owners and deadlines for all outstanding issues needed before Mutual Commit.
- Produce a readiness checklist and agreed timeline for starting Target Value Design and co-location.
- Finalize and distribute the readiness checklist with owners and deadlines
- Legal to produce the draft multi-party agreement reflecting agreed mechanics and CFO conditions
- Project lead to schedule the Pre-Deployment Readiness kickoff and confirm co-location logistics
- Facilitator to circulate meeting minutes, signed one-sentence current/future states, and the scenario/proof archive
- Produce a single-sentence current-state that everyone can repeat and validate.
- Quantify the monetary, schedule, and operational consequences of past adversarial failures for each scenario.
- Assemble the scenario artifacts and owner contacts needed for the Solution Experience.
- Secure agreement on the success signals the owner and CFO will use to judge IPD outcomes.
- Owner to deliver audited final cost reports and change-order logs for each scenario
- Project team to confirm stakeholder list and decision roles to include in upcoming workshops
- Facilitator to draft the one-sentence current-state and circulate for sign-off
- Schedule the Scenario Walkthrough meeting and send prework checklist
- Opening: Re-state Current State & Consequence
- Craft One-Sentence Current State
- Scenario 1 — Diagnosis (owner presents)
- Review Outputs (scenarios, model, CFO feedback)
- Results from Scenario Simulations
- Build Target Cost Baseline
- Simulate Scenario Outcomes
- Present Past Project Scenarios (3 max)
- Open Issues & Risk Register
- Audit & Certification Process
- Scenario 1 — IPD Response & Proof
- Readiness Checklist for TVD Kickoff
- Scenario 1 — Validation
- Quantify Consequences
- Shared Savings Payout & Controls
- Define Shared Savings Pool & Split Mechanics
- Scenario 2 — Diagnosis & IPD Proof
- Auditability & Payout Triggers
- Risk Allocation, Insurance & Dispute Triggers
- Decision Point: Proceed to Solution Scope / Mutual Commit
- Confirm Success Signals
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Solution Scope
Define the multi-party responsibilities, scope boundaries, target cost mechanics, shared savings pool, and audit rights.
Scope Configuration
- Execute Multi-Party Integrated Project Agreement
- Set Up Co-Located Project Office and IT
- Implement Shared Cost-Tracking and Accounting System
- Administer Shared Savings Pool Disbursements
- Provide BIM Integration and Federated Model Management
- Insert Constructability Inputs into Design Models
- Package and Release Trade Work Packages
- Procure and Manage Long-Lead Equipment
- Fabricate and Deliver Prefabricated Modules and Mockups
- Deploy On-Site Lean Coach and Field Support
- Run Weekly Integrated Field Coordination Walks
- Install Temporary Site Logistics and Infection Control
Scope Questions
Execute Multi-Party Integrated Project Agreement
- Do you intend to execute a formal multi-party integrated project agreement (MPA) for this project?
- Which parties must be signatories on the MPA?
- What primary commercial objectives should the MPA address (select all that apply)?
- What dispute resolution methods do you prefer to include in the MPA?
- Are there specific insurance or bonding requirements the owner or lenders insist on?
- Who will lead legal negotiation of the MPA on the owner's side?
- Please list any non-negotiable contract terms or regulatory constraints that must be in the MPA (e.g., state procurement rules, public entity clauses).
Set Up Co-Located Project Office and IT
- Do you plan to establish a co-located project office for design and delivery teams during design?
- What physical space requirements do you anticipate for a co-located office (sq ft, number of workstations, meeting rooms)?
- What IT services are required for the co-located office?
- Are there security or HIPAA/compliance constraints for on-site data access or model viewing?
- Do you require a single hosted collaboration platform (e.g., Common Data Environment) for all parties?
- Will team members need remote participation capability and what tools are preferred?
- Are there IT support or SOW expectations for maintaining the co-located office (helpdesk hours, admin staff)?
Implement Shared Cost-Tracking and Accounting System
- Do you require a shared cost-tracking system to feed the target cost and shared savings calculations?
- Which accounting systems or ERPs must the shared tracker integrate with (owner/GC/vendor systems)?
- Who will have read/write access to cost entries, and who will be view-only?
- What frequency of cost reporting do you need (for governance and cashflow)?
- Do you require audit trails and timestamped evidence for every posted cost and change order?
- Who will operate/house the shared ledger (owner accounting team, third-party administrator, GC finance)?
- Please describe any chart-of-accounts or cost-coding structures that must be used.
Administer Shared Savings Pool Disbursements
- Should a formal shared savings pool be established for the project?
- What percent of project underrun should be allocated to the shared savings pool (or select alternative)?
- What governance body will approve and authorize pool disbursements?
- Which events trigger pool disbursement (e.g., verified final cost audit, milestone completions)?
- Are tax, reporting, or grant restrictions likely to affect distribution of savings?
- Do you want an independent third-party to calculate and certify savings and distributions?
- Please describe the proposed distribution formula or priorities (e.g., owner first, then team split, reserves).
Provide BIM Integration and Federated Model Management
- Which disciplines/models need to be federated (architectural, structural, MEP, medical equipment, site)?
- What level of detail (LOD) is required at each design milestone for coordination?
- Which modeling platforms/formats must be supported (Revit, Navisworks, IFC, Bentley)?
- How often should clash detection and federated coordination runs occur?
- Who will own the federated model and manage version control?
- Are there specific naming conventions, file structures, or data handover requirements?
- Please list any downstream uses of the federated model (facilities management, prefabrication, O&M manuals).
Insert Constructability Inputs into Design Models
- At what design milestones should constructability reviews be scheduled?
- Which parties should participate in constructability reviews (trade partners, prefabrication vendors)?
- Do you require marked-up constructability inputs to be embedded directly into the BIM/model?
- How should constructability recommendations be tracked and resolved (RFI register, issue log, model change request)?
- Do you expect trades to provide prefabrication design feedback that will change model geometry?
- Who is authorized to approve design adjustments driven by constructability input?
- Please describe any historical constructability failures we should avoid (e.g., coordination clashes, MEP access issues).
Package and Release Trade Work Packages
- Do you want trade scope packaged by zone, system, or work type for release?
- What level of package detail is required to enable fabrication/prefab (drawings, BOM, model extracts)?
- Will trade packages be released in phased waves tied to pull planning milestones?
- Do you require prequalification or specific vendor criteria before awarding packages?
- Who is responsible for package assembly and QA prior to release (GC, design, 3rd party)?
- What procurement method do you prefer for trade packages (lump sum, GMP, negotiated, unit price)?
- Please provide any constraints on lead times, delivery windows, or site access that affect package release.
Procure and Manage Long-Lead Equipment
- Do you have a defined list of long-lead items (medical equipment, chillers, AHUs, MEP skids)?
- Who will own procurement risk and vendor selection for long-lead items?
- What lead-time contingencies or procurement windows must be planned for (months)?
- Do long-lead items require staging, specialized handling, or on-site storage prior to installation?
- Should procurement include performance warranties, factory acceptance tests (FAT), or integrated testing plans?
- Do you expect owner-furnished equipment (OFE) and who will coordinate installation interfaces?
- Please list any suppliers or preferred vendors already selected for long-lead items.
Fabricate and Deliver Prefabricated Modules and Mockups
- Is off-site prefabrication or modularization part of the scope (bathroom pods, MEP racks, casework)?
- What volumetric or panelized prefabrication types are anticipated?
- Do you require mockups for owner/clinical approvals prior to bulk fabrication?
- Who will be responsible for factory QA/QC and acceptance criteria?
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Mutual Commit
Negotiate the multi-party agreement terms: risk/reward splits, dispute resolution, insurance, and readiness commitments from each party.
Agreement Modules
- Multi-Party Agreement (MPA)
- Statement of Work (SOW)
- Target Cost & Shared Savings Schedule
- Risk & Reward Allocation Matrix
- Governance & Dispute Resolution Charter
- Insurance & Indemnity Schedule
- Readiness & Mobilization Commitments
- Audit & Accounting Access Agreement
- Change Management & Scope Adjustment Process
- Payment, Funding & Escrow Schedule
- Termination, Exit & Transition Rights
- Confidentiality & Data Sharing Agreement
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Deployment
Operationalize rollout with readiness checks, enablement, and outcome validation.
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Pre-Deployment Readiness
Confirm team co-location, lean maturity, audit access, trade partner commitments, and data needed to start target value design and pull planning.
Readiness Questions
Quick Start: Tell Us About This Project
- What is the project name, facility type, and the single line description you use internally?
- Which stage is the project currently in?
- What is the owner’s headline target for cost and schedule (e.g., $XM / open date Q3 2028)?
- Who will be the primary internal sponsor for this decision (name and role)?
- How would you describe the CFO’s top concern about moving to an IPD model?
If IPD Is Supposed to Fix This, Why Didn’t It Before?
- What's one recurring failure from past projects that you would refuse to accept again?
- When projects went adversarial in the past, who tended to absorb the biggest pain and why?
- How confident are you that the multi-party agreement will prevent the blame cycles you’ve seen?
- What would prove to you that collaboration didn’t just sound good on paper but actually changed behavior on site?
- How long has this pattern of cost/schedule disputes been affecting your projects?
Who’s Actually Holding the Keys?
- If we had to map decision authority today, who signs final trade approvals, budget changes, and schedule pushes?
- Which individuals or committees must be involved in every material IPD decision to maintain your governance comfort?
- How much time do your decision-makers typically need to respond to a governance request during design (e.g., 24 hours, 1 week)?
- Who on your team will act as the daily point of contact for co-location and pull planning commitments?
- What has made your governance either accelerate or stall decisions in previous projects? Give a specific example.
Are You Sitting On The Data We’ll Need?
- What baseline documents or datasets can you commit to sharing at the start of target value design?
- How auditable are your historical final costs for similar projects—do you have line-item, invoice-level records?
- Which internal systems will we need API or report access to (e.g., ERP, CMMS, procurement)?
- Who will own data governance and permissions for sharing sensitive financial information with third parties?
- Are there any legal, privacy, or contractual restrictions that could delay data sharing? If so, how long to resolve them?
Can Your Team Live Co-Located?
- If co-location is required, what space and facilities can you realistically dedicate for a shared team?
- What resistance do you anticipate from internal staff about being colocated with contractor and architect teams?
- How many owner-side full-time equivalents (FTEs) can be allocated to daily co-location during design and pre-construction?
- Have you assigned a physical advocate—someone empowered to make on-the-spot tradeoffs during target value design?
- What would make co-location feel safe and productive for your leaders (e.g., separate owner room, defined hours, confidentiality protocols)?
Lean Muscle Check — How Deep Is It?
- If lean methods are a precondition, how would you rate your organization’s familiarity with pull planning and target value design?
- Describe a time when your team adopted a new process—how long from first training to measurable behavioral change?
- Which internal training or coaching resources could we leverage to accelerate lean adoption?
- What would cause your staff to revert to old adversarial habits under cost pressure, and how have you prevented that elsewhere?
- How comfortable are your clinical leaders with participating in pull planning sessions that may shift clinical priorities to meet cost targets?
Trade Partner Commitment — Will They Show Up?
- How do you currently prequalify trade partners for collaboration and early design involvement?
- Would you expect trade partners to sign a commitment to early involvement and shared targets? If so, which incentives are acceptable?
- Which trades do you anticipate being critical to lock in before design-to-construction sequencing begins?
- Have you had trade partners walk away from collaborative commitments previously? If yes, why?
- How would we measure a trade partner’s readiness—what red flags should we know about?
Money, Audit & Governance — Where's the Trust?
- What level of transparency does your CFO require on cost reporting to accept a shared savings model?
- Are you prepared to allow independent audits of final costs and savings? If not, what are the constraints?
- Who will approve the mechanics of the target cost and shared savings pool from your side?
- How do you want risk/reward splits presented—high-level percentages or modeled scenarios with examples?
- What insurance, indemnity, or procurement policies could complicate a multi-party agreement?
What Could Make This Fail — Tell Us the Hard Truth
- If a worst-case history repeats, what single event would prove the model failed (e.g., withheld information, rushed decisions, audit dispute)?
- How tolerant is leadership of early missteps—are they willing to fund coaching and course-correction during adoption?
- Which stakeholder’s withdrawal would most likely collapse the collaborative model, and why?
- What early warning signals would you want the team to escalate immediately?
- What’s one non-negotiable you require to stay engaged in an IPD approach?
Ready to Pull the Trigger — Practical Next Steps
- Based on our conversation, what three items must be resolved before you’d approve beginning target value design?
- What is your preferred timeline for starting co-location and the first pull-planning session?
- Who should we include on the kickoff invite to ensure decisions can be made in real time?
- What remaining questions or concerns would you like us to address in a focused follow-up conversation?
- Would you be willing to share an audited final-cost example from a prior project (redacted if needed) to accelerate CFO comfort?
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Deployment Enablement
Schedule and execute design-to-construction sequencing, co-location cadence, and pull-planning milestones with clear owners.
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Validation Checklist
Verify target cost tracking, auditability of final costs, lean practice adoption, and governance is operating as agreed.
Validation Questions
Quick Check: Who's in the Room?
- Who will be the primary project sponsor and day-to-day owner contact for validation activities?
- Which stakeholders must sign off on final audited costs?
- Which best describes your organization's prior experience with IPD or multi-party agreements?
- Please list any external parties (auditors, bond counsel, insurers) who must be included in cost validation conversations.
- How urgent is it for you that validation systems are verified before the next procurement or major milestone?
Are We Sure the Numbers Would Hold Up?
- What if the target cost numbers you’re relying on wouldn’t withstand an independent audit—how would that change your willingness to share risk?
- How do you currently collect and reconcile design estimates, subcontractor quotes, and change order documentation?
- Which systems currently hold the definitive cost records for your projects?
- Who currently has direct access to raw cost entries, supporting invoices, and subcontractor agreements?
- When was the last time your finance team performed a line-item audit of a project closeout, and what were the top three findings?
What Broke Last Time — and Why?
- When a past project blew budget or schedule, what single decision or missing control do you now suspect was the real turning point?
- Tell us the story of one project where costs spiraled—what broke first (scope, procurement, change control, documentation)?
- Which behaviors drove the response as costs escalated—collaboration, finger-pointing, or silent acquiescence?
- Which controls or practices were missing that, if present, would have materially changed the outcome?
- What would you have wanted the GC and architect to do differently in that moment?
Who Holds the Keys to Auditability?
- If an independent auditor arrived tomorrow, where would they find the weakest link in our document trail?
- Do you have a documented workflow for collecting, naming, and storing source documents (invoices, subcontracts, change orders)?
- Which platform should be treated as the system of record for audits on this project?
- How often should cost packages and change logs be reconciled to the general ledger to be audit-ready?
- Who on your side will be responsible for producing source documentation and attesting to cost entries during an audit?
If Costs Drift, Who Actually Feels the Pain?
- Imagine the project is 5% over target cost—who in your organization loses credibility or budget first, and why?
- At what threshold of cost overrun does your CFO require formal escalation or an executive decision?
- Which existing financial mechanisms do you rely on to protect the owner's position (contingency, insurance, separate reserves)?
- What shared savings pool structure (size or trigger) would feel meaningful to your CFO?
- When cost pressure rises, which corrective actions do you prefer we prioritize?
Is Lean a Living Practice or a Slide Deck?
- Would you be comfortable being evaluated on lean metrics—and do you expect the score to reflect reality or optimism?
- How mature is your organization's lean construction capability right now?
- Which lean practices are already used on your projects?
- Can you describe an example where lean practice changed a design decision or saved cost on one of your projects?
- What lean metrics would convince your CFO that collaboration is delivering measurable value?
Can Governance Catch Problems Before They Become Crisis?
- If governance becomes ceremonial, surprises will persist—what concrete checks do you want in place to prevent that?
- What governance cadence do you prefer during deployment (meetings, dashboards, decision gates)?
- Which types of decisions must be escalated to the multi-party board and within what timeframe?
- How should disputes over audit findings be resolved on this project?
- Which governance artifacts do you want produced before deployment (charter, RACI, audit protocol, etc.)?
Let's Make Validation Practical — What Do We Do Next?
- If we could only implement three validation safeguards before the next procurement, which would move the needle most for you?
- Who on your team can commit time to validation setup workshops and what percent allocation can they provide?
- Which project phase would make these safeguards most effective to implement?
- What specific deliverable would help your CFO sign off on readiness (one‑page checklist, sample audit report, dashboard mockup)?
- Are there constraints (procurement rules, union agreements, IT security, confidentiality) we must solve to enable auditability? Please list.
- Would you like us to draft and share a concise Validation Checklist for your CFO to review after this session?
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Success
Review outcomes against success signals, capture lessons learned, and maintain a shared channel for issues and enhancements.
Success Reviews
- Outcomes Review & Success Signal Validation
- Financial Reconciliation & Shared Savings Audit Review
- Lessons Learned & Continuous Improvement Workshop
- Governance Handover & Ongoing Issue Channel Setup
- Operations Handoff & Warranty / Closeout Review
Issues & Enhancements
- Create the shared channel, invite named users, and publish channel guidelines and retention policy.
- Prepare and send payment instructions and accounting entries to the owner/CFO for approval and execution.
- Archive financial audit trail to agreed secure repository with access rights documented.
- Workshop Framing & Goals
- Produce a documented set of prioritized improvement actions with owners and deadlines.
- Capture successful practices to be codified into the IPD playbook and future team selection criteria.
- Create a plan to measure whether implemented improvements produce the intended effects on future projects.
- Publish the Lessons Learned Report with top 5 improvements, owners, deadlines, and acceptance criteria.
- Add approved playbook changes to the master IPD playbook and schedule training sessions for next project kickoff.
- Create an improvement-tracking board (backlog) and invite owners to report monthly progress.
- Capture exemplar artifacts (meeting agendas, pull-plan templates, audit checklists) into a shared repository.
- Review Closeout Governance Responsibilities
- Create and provision a shared issue and enhancement channel with documented access and roles.
- Define triage categories, SLA targets, and an escalation matrix to handle post-close issues quickly and transparently.
- Confirm audit access rules and a reporting cadence for ongoing governance and improvement oversight.
- Introductions & Meeting Objectives
- Publish the triage matrix and SLA document and assign first responders for each category.
- Schedule the first quarterly governance review and add recurring reporting owners.
- Provision audit access accounts and document how to request archived project artifacts.
- Inventory of O&M Deliverables & Warranties
- Deliver and confirm acceptance of all O&M documentation, as-builts, and warranty records to facilities leadership.
- Ensure facilities staff are scheduled and prepared for required training with clear competency outcomes.
- Agree on POE metrics and schedule to evaluate whether operational performance meets the intended future state.
- Deliver digital O&M repository access and confirm receipt with facilities leadership.
- Schedule and confirm attendees for hands-on systems training sessions within 30 days.
- Assign warranty owner and publish the warranty contact list and escalation steps.
- Set POE data collection start date and assign responsibility for analysis and report delivery.
- Validate measured outcomes against each agreed success signal with evidence and arrive at a documented acceptance status.
- Quantify any gaps and assign remediation owners, timelines, and success criteria for closure.
- Ensure CFO has the financial reconciliation needed to approve shared savings distribution or remedial financial adjustments.
- Publish a signed Outcomes Validation Report mapping each success signal to evidence and acceptance status.
- Create remediation tickets for each missed signal with owner, acceptance criteria, and deadline.
- Collect any outstanding evidence or audit documents requested during the meeting.
- Schedule follow-up acceptance verification meeting (if remediation required).
- Audit Scope, Methodology, and Deliverables
- Obtain joint agreement on audited final cost and the computation of the shared savings pool.
- Resolve or document contested cost items and set a clear dispute resolution path with deadlines.
- Finalize payment mechanics and schedule for distribution of shared savings and close financials.
- Issue the final audited cost and shared savings calculation package signed by auditor and parties.
- If disputes exist, open formal dispute tickets and assign dispute resolution facilitator with timeline.
- Recap of Agreed Success Signals
- Project Timeline & Critical Events
- Presentation of Audited Final Costs
- Facility Team Training Plan
- Define Shared Channel & Access Controls
- Reconciliation: Target Cost to Final Cost
- Breakout: What Worked (Reinforce)
- Final Punchlist and Closeout Verification
- Presentation of Measured Outcomes (Evidence Pack)
- Issue Triage & Escalation Matrix
- Compute Shared Savings Pool & Distribution
- Breakout: What Failed & Root Cause Analysis
- Enhancement Backlog Management
- Maintenance Backlog & Spare Parts Strategy
- Gap Analysis — Signal-by-Signal
- Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) Plan
- Dispute Resolution & Adjustments
- Prioritize Improvements (Impact vs Effort)
- CFO & Owner Perspective
- Audit Access & Data Retention