The Collaborative Process for Developing Project Definition Documents for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

The conventional approach to preparing programming documents for new facilities is a process that tends to favor "stove-piping". Once a facility is planned and a program definition document has been prepared, often the project is turned over to design, and once designed, the project is turned over to construction. Little input is derived from the designers and constructors during the planning process, and during design, the input from the planners is thought to end. Likewise, when a project that enters construction, there is less input from the designers and the planners. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Airports Authority) has sought to invest all stakeholders in the success of a project by developing a collaborative planning, design and construction process that involves all three disciplines from the conceptualization of the project through its turnover to users. The intent of the process is to make sure that the completed project meets the goals and objectives first laid out in the planning phase, and to assure that all project costs are accounted for and that goals for schedules and budgets are identified early in the process and adhered to through completion. This collaborative effort has been used with success on some initial smaller projects at both Reagan National and Washington Dulles International Airports, and is now becoming the standard process for execution of larger projects.