Exploration of Team Integration in Spanish Multifamily Residential Building Construction

Abstract

Project delivery team integration generally involves early involvement of general contractors and key specialty contractors in the design process. Team integration has been found to improve an owner’s probability of success. However, during difficult economic times, owners can forego early team involvement and move toward low bid procurement to take advantage of competitive markets. This study explores the performance of integrated teams in the Spanish multifamily building construction market in light of the 2007 financial crisis. After conducting structured interviews of 31 residential building projects with the owner and main contractor of each one of them, this study identified eight projects for in-depth case studies. These eight case studies represented the best performing, worst performing, and atypical cases. The results show that Spanish building owners experience higher success by developing integrated teams. This integration begins with how the owner organizes the team for success (i.e., integrated builder services, qualifications-based procurement, and prior experience) and promotes integration throughout the project process (i.e., timeliness of communications, shared commitment to goals, and development of team chemistry).