An increasing number of public and private construction projects in Massachusetts are utilizing collaborative methods of project delivery, such as Design-Build or Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). Collaborative project delivery brings all project participants together at the earliest stages of project conception and requires the participants to work as a “team” during design and construction. The “team” approach represents a significant change from the traditional design-bid-build approach in both the legal relationships and risk allocation between and amongst the project participants. Contractors should be aware of the various options for structuring the legal relationships between the parties, and the contract terms necessary to appropriately allocate risk. This article identifies the significant differences between IPD and traditional methods of project delivery, the types of legal relationships that may exist for IPD, and the unique risks that should be addressed in the contract documents.

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