A collaborative delivery model with multi-party contract for industrial engineering projects

Industrial engineering projects are temporary, engineering- and technology-intensive capital projects of usually private sector investors. These projects require the integration of knowledge and competencies from various actors as well as effective interorganisational collaboration. However, in practice, the integration of knowledge and competencies and achieving comprehensive collaboration are challenging because of the absence of working models and guidelines for contractual arrangements in this context. To address this, action design research was applied, and a new collaborative delivery model called the engineering, procurement, and construction alliancing (EPCA) model was developed together with project practitioners. The EPCA delivery model engages key actors early on to identify joint themes and issues that benefit from collaboration and manage them through jointly defined risk and reward sharing structures. This paper identifies how multi-party arrangements with collaborative practices can be used and the key issues that should be addressed through collaborative arrangements in industrial engineering projects.