Partnered Project Performance at the City of Phoenix

Partnering construction projects during the past twenty years throughout the United States has become an increasingly popular, approach to total quality management. Despite its growth, the term "partnering" still connotes various meanings throughout the construction industry, and the results are often not quantified. Owners often ask how partnering can benefit their project, how much time and/or money can be saved? Most owners and contractors agree that partnering is a benefit to project performance, cost minimization and time efficiency, however the supporting facts are typically not quantified and are therefore not incorporated to justify these partnering claims. This paper reports the results of a study completed to provide an objective quantification of the benefits, limitations and drawbacks of partnering versus not partnering public construction projects at the City of Phoenix Water Services Department.