Effective construction project collaboration starts before construction. Owners, architects, contractors, consultants, and trade partners need clear roles, timely information, and practical processes for decisions and changes. Contracts provide the framework, but the team must put that framework into practice.
The team behind Park Shore Juanita Bay, an independent senior living community in Kirkland, Washington, did exactly that. In the AIA Contract Documents (ACD) webinar, representatives from the owner-development, design, and construction teams explained how they coordinated responsibilities, responded to site conditions, managed resident customizations, and resolved problems without losing sight of the project or their working relationships.
Their experience offers five practical lessons for teams that want fewer surprises, faster decisions, and a clearer path through construction.
The discussion featured:
- Paul Aigner, Development Consultant with GSI, a Transforming Age company
- Wolf Saar, Managing Principal Architect at Perkins Eastman
- Tommy Booth, Senior Project Manager at Exxel Pacific
- Caitlin Jascewsky, Product Marketing Manager at ACD (webinar moderator)
Watch the Webinar Replay
Quick Reference Guide
Use these five practices to address common collaboration challenges before they disrupt the project.
| Project Challenge | Recommended Practice |
| Design choices affect cost, schedule, or constructability | Involve the contractor and key trades during preconstruction. |
| Responsibilities cross several agreements | Coordinate scopes, decision authority, and design responsibility. |
| Selections or customizations affect procurement | Set decision deadlines and maintain a shared change record. |
| An issue creates cost or schedule impacts | Document the facts, follow the agreed process, and communicate promptly. |
| A new, similar project is kicking off | Build trust through accountability, fairness, and timely decisions. |
1. Coordinate Agreements Across the Project Team
Each party may sign a separate agreement, but those agreements operate as a connected system. On the Park Shore Juanita Bay project, the owner had separate agreements with the architect and general contractor. General conditions and downstream agreements connected those relationships to consultants and subcontractors.
Saar described the general conditions as a roadmap for the owner, architect, and contractor. Coordinated agreements help the parties understand how their duties fit together and reduce the risk of gaps or conflicting expectations. He also recommended discussing potential out-of-scope work before the architect performs it, when the owner can still approve the work, negotiate it, or choose another path.
The team used a design-build approach for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. MEP subcontractors engaged through the contractor provided design services in addition to construction. The agreements and project documents therefore needed to identify who would design, coordinate, review, and build each system.
Aigner also emphasized defining the architect’s basic, supplemental, and potential additional services in the owner-architect agreement. Teams should settle questions early:
- Which consultants are included in the architect’s scope?
- Which services must the owner obtain separately?
- Who holds design responsibility for each delegated or design-build scope?
- Who can make decisions and authorize changes?
- How will the parties address additional services, claims, and disputes?
2. Bring the Contractor into Key Decisions Early
Early contractor involvement gave the Park Shore team timely input on cost, schedule, constructability, and site logistics while the design team could still respond. The value of involving the contractor during the pre-construction phase became clear when exploratory wells confirmed a seasonally high-water table, in some areas 10 to 15 feet below the project’s final grade.
The team raised the bottom of the foundation to bring most of it above the water table. That decision required input from the owner, architect, and contractor because it affected several priorities at once:
- Reach suitable bearing soils.
- Preserve the owner’s below-grade parking requirement
- Stay within the city’s building-height limits.
- Reduce excavation, soil export, cost, and construction complexity.
Because the team evaluated the conditions early, the architect could adjust floor elevations before the change triggered extensive redesign. The contractor continued to assess alternatives and constructability as the design developed, including implementing a temporary de-watering system.
3. Plan for Changes You Know Are Coming
Not every construction change is a surprise. At Park Shore, residents could choose upgrades and finishes for their homes. More than 45 of the 50 residences were pre-leased, and the team tracked roughly 1,000 upgrade items.
The owner needed pricing before presenting options to residents. The contractor then had to communicate approved selections to subcontractors and account for them in shop drawings, manufacturing, procurement, and installation.
Firm selection deadlines made the process manageable. For example, subcontractors needed enough time to revise cabinet manufacturing drawings or purchase upgraded appliances without affecting the broader schedule.
The same principle applies beyond senior living. Equipment selections, tenant improvements, owner-requested options, and phased occupancy can all affect design and procurement. Teams should treat those expected decisions as a planned workflow, not a series of exceptions.
4. Pair Clear Responsibility With Prompt Communication
Even a well-coordinated project will encounter problems. During construction at Park Shore, mistakes in condensate piping for some HVAC units caused leaks in common amenity areas and several residences. Some repairs and remediation occurred after occupancy.
According to Booth, the plumbing subcontractor held design responsibility for that work and bore the related financial responsibility. The example shows why teams should document design responsibility and risk allocation before construction. When an issue arises, the agreements should help the parties identify the applicable scope and process.
The panelists stressed that contract language is the foundation for the response. Teams also need to identify what happened, evaluate cost and schedule effects, explore workarounds, and discuss responsibility while options remain. Contingencies may help cover some costs, but their use still requires a conversation about entitlement and allocation.
5. Treat Collaboration as a Long-Term Practice
Those habits carry into future work. At the time of the webinar, the same team had another senior living community under construction north of Seattle and a third project in design development. The Park Shore team understands one another’s expectations, communication styles, and contract priorities. That familiarity does not eliminate challenges, but it gives the team a stronger base for resolving them.
Across the discussion, three qualities defined a partner worth working with again:
- Trust and fair treatment when problems arise
- Open, timely communication
- A collaborative approach to solving problems
Saar also noted that established relationships can make future contract negotiations more efficient because the parties already understand one another’s priorities.
What Park Shore Shows About Construction Project Collaboration
Construction project collaboration is not a substitute for clear contracts. It is what happens when a team uses coordinated agreements, defined responsibilities, current information, and direct communication to make decisions together.
At Park Shore Juanita Bay, that approach helped the team respond to site conditions, coordinate design-build scopes, manage extensive resident selections, address construction errors, and preserve relationships beyond one project. The practical lesson is simple: bring the right people in early, make responsibilities visible, plan predictable changes, and address problems before they narrow the team’s options.
See the Park Shore Team’s Approach
Hear the owner-developer, architect, and general contractor perspectives behind Park Shore Juanita Bay. The on-demand webinar explores how the team aligned scope, schedule, and budget; coordinated responsibilities; managed changes; and built relationships that led to more work together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Construction contracts define roles, communication procedures, decision authority, change processes, and risk allocation. When related agreements are coordinated, project participants can see how their responsibilities connect and what process to follow when an issue arises.
Early contractor involvement gives the design team current input on cost, schedule, procurement, logistics, and constructability while the project can still adjust. That input can help the team compare alternatives before a decision leads to extensive redesign or work in the field.
Delegated design assigns responsibility for designing a defined portion of the work to a qualified design professional engaged by another project participant, often through the contractor or a subcontractor. The agreements and construction documents should state the scope, performance criteria, review process, and responsibilities that apply.
Set a consistent process for documenting the proposed change, evaluating cost and schedule effects, obtaining approvals, and communicating the decision. For anticipated selections or customizations, set deadlines and assign responsibility before procurement or installation becomes time sensitive.
Trust grows when project partners communicate promptly, meet their obligations, address problems fairly, and focus on practical solutions. Clear agreements support those behaviors by giving the team shared expectations and a known process for difficult moments.