Almost every article or discussion dealing with the legal aspects of integrated-project-delivery contracts raises the notion that IPD contracts have not been tested in court and that this untested status elevates the legal risk to the IPD participants. While it is true that, as of this date, there is little, if any, case authority dealing with the legal merits of IPD contracts, that does not tell the whole story.
The first challenge to this idea is determining whether IPD contracts really are new. Those of us who were around in the early 1980s will remember the “partnering” agreements that, along with other contract documents, were circulating and will recognize some of the “fluff” language inserted in IPD contracts in an obvious effort to engender a spirit of cooperation.