Reducing Risk

Beyond a better grasp of materials and techniques, Thomsen adds a second reason to collaborate closely: "Things always go wrong, so you want to have that trusting relationship."

The bottom-line savings of earning a contractor's confidence can be significant. "Risk is a big concern for contractors," says Fraga. "Think of risk as dollars: Shifting all the risk to somebody else just costs the owner a lot more money."

Partnering with contractors also helps minimize uncertainty on the job site, adds Mullen, such as by fine-tuning the subcontractor and materials selection processes or by creating more comprehensive insurance programs. "It can extend to labor solutions as well, by minimizing field labor and maximizing off-site work when you can," he explains. "That's certainly an important topic in the very active, busy construction markets across the country that aren't matched by gains in the workforce."

Insurers concur that collaborative structures and activities reduce risk, and many offer reduced bonding costs and lower deductibles for professional liability insurance if the project requires such teamwork. Examples include "risk-mitigation" credits granted to project teams that perform a joint constructability review before work begins, as well as credits available for when a submittal management process is in place or when scheduling milestones are met. "Insurers would like as many subs as available and the owner involved in project planning, so they can talk about long lead items and ways to make things easier to construct," says Lorna Parsons, a managing director for Victor O. Schinnerer Co., Chevy Chase, Maryland. "And we'd like to see them talking about these things while it's still on paper, long before anyone starts digging holes."

To get the savings, however, the project team has to work together, says Parsons. "All of the credits require a high level of collaboration between architect and contractor, which we think is beneficial for everybody," she explains. "When we looked at our largest claims, two-thirds of them are for ‘delays and extras,' where the project goes over schedule and budget. When the architect and contractor aren't in synch, big claims are made and only the lawyers win."

Since many of those costs are ultimately borne by project owners, there's another market impetus for architects to join forces with contractors: the clientele. Experienced owners may prefer it-or insist on it.

"A lot of an architect's work is for serial builders who are wondering, ‘What do you do when you have a continuous building program?'" asks Thomsen. "Routine owners need to be savvy," adds Fraga, citing statistics that 90 percent of projects are undertaken by repeat builders. "All of us in the design-and-construction business want to optimize the facilities supply chain. And it's getting more complex every day with new technology, safety, and environmental requirements. No single individual can totally control the supply chain, so it is essential-not a luxury-to collaborate."

Some owners see architects who don't play well with contractors as a vanishing breed. "Collaborate or die," Fraga sums up.