Partnering II (Best Practice)

Partnering’s bottom line: a construction industry process that strengthens both projects and partners, tightens schedules, safeguards quality, and enhances each partner’s competitive edge.

The CII Partnering II Research Team is a follow-up to the original CII Partnering Task Force, which published its findings in 1991. CII established the Partnering II Research Team in early 1993 to measure the broad effects of partnering and to establish benchmarks related to partnering.

The CII Partnering II Research Team has published a book that describes a partnering implementation process model, CII Implementation Resource 102-2, Partnering ToolKit. That publication presents five implementation phases for partnering, each having objectives and key success factors. The team also identified benchmarks that verify the benefits achievable through partnering in the areas of cost, schedule, safety, and quality.

In accordance with their charter, the Partnering II charter fulfilled the following three key objectives:

• Develop a set of metrics to assess the benefits of partnering
• Determine partnering benchmarks for the construction industry
• Identify key success factors for, as well as barriers to, effective implementation of partnering relationships

The research led to the creation of the Partnering Process Model, which identifies a five-phase process for developing and managing a partnering relationship each having key objectives and success factors.