Partnered project performance in Texas Department of Transportation

Partnering traditionally refers to strategic alliances or agreements between private sector owners and construction contractors to work together for extended periods of time to deliver completed facilities. Private sector partnering typically begins before the preproject planning phase of a project. The public sector is constrained by laws that ensure the presence of fair competition in all contract awards and prohibits establishment of long-term relationships. Therefore, public sector partnering usually begins after the bid has been awarded for construction. Despite the existence of these constraints, the Texas Department of Transportation has been successful when partnering on a project-by-project basis. Quantitative data are presented that indicate partnering is having a positive effect on completion times, dispute resolution, and project team relations. Subjective data from nearly 900 participants are also provided that further support an emergence of partnering as a viable contract administration alternative for public sector infrastructure projects. Finally, based on the results of the analysis, conclusions and recommendations are presented to serve as benchmarks for future studies of the use of partnering on infrastructure projects.