PARTNERINGAGENCY COOPERATION MODULE 6 What is Partnering Partnering

PARTNERING/AGENCY COOPERATION MODULE 6

What is Partnering? • Partnering is a formal management process in which all parties to a project voluntarily agree at the outset to adopt a cooperative, team-based approach to project development and problem resolution to eliminate -- or at least reduce -- conflicts, litigation, and claims. • Partnering does not void any Contract part.

Who are the Partners? The 'partners' include all stakeholders -- that is anyone who can impact the project. The first step is formation of a 'partnering team' whose members represent all the groups involved in the phase of the project at hand. Team membership evolves with the project, with some members dropping out and new ones coming on board.

Stakeholders

Who Leads the Partnering? • A facilitator provides the 'glue' that holds the process together and keeps it on track, • Facilitator works with the team building and group dynamics and holds no vested interest in the decisions reached by the other team members, • Facilitator keeps the focus on maintaining a cooperative working relationship. • The facilitator may be an individual or a group and is hired by the partnering team.

How Does Partnering Work? The partnering team meets for an initial workshop or conference • Define common goals and objectives, • Identify criteria for evaluating progress and performance, • Agree on mechanisms for resolving disputes and promoting cooperation, • The team members develop and sign a formal partnering agreement (charter) to define their common goals and serve as a reminder of their commitment.

Setting up a Partnering Agreement Commitment There must be commitment from the highest level. Buy-in from those involved is critical. 2. Self-Assessment Organizations need to understand their own readiness for the journey. 3. Selection Selecting partners you can trust based on past experience and understanding of partnering. 4. Mutual Objectives Establishing clearly defined objectives that meet the aims of each of the parties. 1.

Setting up a Partnering Agreement 5. 6. 7. 8. Problem Resolution It is vital that a joint problem resolution mechanism is established to enable decisions to be taken quickly and effectively. Continuous Improvement In order to demonstrate improvement, relevant indicators must be determined and performance measured. Contractual Information Specs, permits other docs. Risk and Reward Issues An exhaustive list of the risks that might be encountered should be jointly identified and assessed.

How Does Partnering Work? Follow-up workshops are held periodically for the duration of the project, as agreed. Get the pulse of the project and stakeholders

Sample Problem Resolution Flow Chart

Why Partnering? • Partnering participants report… • Lower stress levels than in non-partnered projects, • Adversarial attitudes go away, • Sense of mutual accountability and trust. • Other management processes such as value engineering have been enhanced due to a cooperative environment.

Why Partnering? • Studies by federal agencies and by State groups show that partnering fosters improved safety, reduced construction time, and greater value engineering savings. • Including Caltrans…

Caltrans definition • Caltrans…cooperatively with all contractors; partnering is our way of doing business. The Department encourages project partnering among the project team made up of significant contributors from the Department and the Contractor and their invited stakeholders.

Caltrans/Agency Spec 1. Create a partnering charter • Mutual goals, including core project goals , project-specific goals and individual goals • Partnering maintenance and close-out plan • Dispute resolution plan that includes a dispute resolution/resolution sessions • Team commitment statement and signatures 2. Participate in monthly surveys to measure progress on mutual goals and measure short-term key issues as they arise

Caltrans/Agency Spec 4. Team evaluates the facilitator on the forms. Facilitator evaluations must be completed: at the end of: • Initial partnering workshop • Project close-out partnering workshop 5. Conduct a project close-out partnering workshop 6. Document lessons learned before Contract acceptance

Partnering Charter

When is Partnering used by Caltrans • Contract with a total bid over $1 million, professionally facilitated partnering is encouraged. • Contract with a total bid over $10 million, professionally facilitated partnering is required.

Benefits of Partnering • Increased customer satisfaction • Better value for the client • Recognition and protection of profit margin for contractors and suppliers • Staff development and satisfaction • Creation of an environment that encourages innovation and technical development • Better understanding between partners and driving down of real costs

Benefits of Partnering • Design integration with specialists in the supply chain • Improved buildability through early involvement of the • • contractors Duplication eliminated Better predictability of time and cost Shorter overall delivery period Stability which provides more confidence for better planning and investment in staff and resources

Partnering links for Review Many forms and templates exist for use by agencies • http: //www. agc. org/cs/industry_topics/additional_industry_topics/partnering • http: //www. gsa. gov/portal/content/100822 • http: //www. constructingexcellence. org. uk/pdf/fact_sheet/partnering. pdf

Agency Cooperation • Caltrans local assistance manual • Cooperative agreement manual • Grand Boulevard Initiative - El Camino Real (SR 82) • Water quality mitigation project

Stakeholders

Water quality mitigation project • San Francisco Estuary/ABAG Project • Itigation Project from the new SFOBB Project • 8 “green” sites within 7 cities (Alameda/Contra Costa Co) • Coordination between central source/individual cities/Caltrans

San Pablo Ave. Green Stormwater Spine Water Quality Improvement • Pilot project and model for Bay Area municipalities implementing “green” infrastructure projects as part of their stormwater management efforts. The Spine Project will design, build, and monitor an array of low impact development (LID) projects distributed along 12. 5 miles of San Pablo Avenue, a major thoroughfare passing through a number of East Bay cities.

San Pablo Ave. Green • Help quantify the Bay Area cost and benefits of LID retrofits in the right-of-way • Educate the public and local governmental decision makers about green infrastructure • Demonstrate sustainability practices by using Bay-Friendly Landscape Guidelines • Provide local public works agencies with hands-on opportunities to learn best management practices for green infrastructure

Agency Cooperation • Project cooperation • Planning • Design • Implimentation