Main Contractor Selection on Construction Projects When Adapting an Integrated Project Delivery Procurement Strategy Within an Irish Context.

The Irish construction industry has experienced turbulent years over the last decade from an economic viewpoint. The industry has tended to be conservative in nature and slow to embrace change. However international influences have exposed Irish construction professionals to new more efficient systems and technologies, which although slow to take hold have started to gain traction within certain sectors of the industry. This study has focussed on the innovative procurement route known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and its facilitator; Building Information Modelling (BIM). The overall aim of this study was to investigate whether Integrated Project Delivery was a viable procurement route for construction work within the Irish construction industry. The chosen research strategy for conducting this research was qualitative in nature utilising a phenomenological approach. Semi structured interviews were deemed to be the most suitable platform for data collection, and this data was organised into solid themes for further analysis. .The participants to the study comprised of eight expert commentators from the Irish construction industry who occupied senior positions in their respective companies. An extensive literature was completed on both Irish and international literature dealing with this area. The research question was answered based on the data gathered during the research process, supplemented by findings in the literature review. The overall conclusion based on the data gathered during this research was that IPD was a viable procurement route for construction work within the Irish construction industry, on condition that the Irish government would make policy decisions conducive to creating a collaborative environment of trust. This policy changes must deal with procurement regulations, contractual arrangements and promotion of IPD within the industry itself Keywords; Integrated Project Delivery, Building Information Modelling, Procuremen