Schedule Performance of Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Delivery on Pipeline Engineering and Construction Projects

Much of the water and wastewater lines in the United States are nearing the end of their useful life. A significant reinvestment is needed in the upcoming decades to replace or rehabilitate the water and wastewater infrastructure in the U.S. Currently, the traditional method for delivering water and wastewater pipeline engineering and construction projects is design-bid-build (DBB). The traditional DBB delivery system is a sequential low-integration process and can lead to inefficiencies and adverse relationships between stakeholders. Alternative project delivery methods (APDM) such as construction manager at risk (CMAR) have been introduced to increase stakeholder integration and ultimately enhance project performance. Schedule performance can have significant impacts on pipeline projects and can be a major contributor to cost growth. However, the schedule performance of CMAR projects in the pipeline engineering and construction industry has not been quantitatively studied. The objective of this paper is to develop a baseline for the schedule performance of CMAR water and wastewater pipeline projects. The research objective will be accomplished by administering a quantitative survey developed to facilitate the data collection from 53 projects, followed by a statistical analysis of the schedule performance data. The results show an average schedule growth of 1.77%, which is notably less than the typical schedule growth observed with other delivery systems. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing the first quantitative study of CMAR schedule performance for pipelines engineering and construction projects.