EIC launches Collaborative Delivery Models webinar series with strong industry participation
More than 100 participants joined EIC’s first webinar on Collaborative Delivery Models (CDM) on 17 September 2026, bringing together contractor, client, legal and designer perspectives on how collaboration can improve the delivery of complex infrastructure projects.
The webinar marked the opening of EIC’s new series on Collaborative Delivery Models and built on the recommendations of the EIC Position Paper on CDM, published earlier this year. With almost 200 registrations, the strong interest reflected the growing attention being paid to collaborative approaches as infrastructure projects become larger, more complex and exposed to increasing uncertainty.
Moderated by EIC Director Frank Kehlenbach, the webinar brought together EIC President Gustavo Martínez (Ferrovial), Patrick Guné, Executive Director Major Projects at Trafikverket, Jonathan Hart, Partner at Pinsent Masons, and David Cleaves, Major Project Director at AECOM. Together, they examined CDM from the perspectives of contractors, clients, legal advisers and designers.
Registration Link for Webinar 2
Choosing the right delivery model
Opening the discussion, Gustavo Martínez underlined that EIC does not see collaborative delivery as a universal replacement for traditional procurement. Conventional models continue to have an important role for well-defined and predictable projects. However, as complexity and uncertainty increase, simply transferring risk contractually does not make that risk disappear.
Instead, the procurement strategy should start with the characteristics of the project: its complexity, uncertainty, objectives and risk profile. For appropriate projects, early integration of clients, contractors, designers and other key stakeholders can help identify and manage risks before they develop into costly problems. EIC’s approach combines this with transparency, fair risk allocation and commercial incentives aligned around shared project outcomes.
People and behaviours are decisive
Providing the client perspective, Patrick Guné described Trafikverket’s experience of applying different delivery models across a major infrastructure portfolio. His central message was that the contractual model alone cannot create successful collaboration: culture, behaviours and the ability of the parties to understand each other’s drivers are decisive.
This also places significant responsibilities on the client. Regular dialogue with the market, timely decision-making, early identification of problems and maintaining relationships throughout the life of a project can all determine whether collaborative delivery succeeds. Trafikverket’s approach also places emphasis on evaluating people and behaviours, rather than relying solely on price and technical criteria.
Guné illustrated this with the Swedish Ostlänken rail project, where a procurement was relaunched after insufficient market interest. Revised terms, function-based requirements and a different approach to supplier engagement ultimately resulted in eight bids – demonstrating how the behaviour and procurement strategy of the client can directly affect competition.
Turning collaboration into a workable contract
From the legal perspective, Jonathan Hart stressed that collaborative contracting covers a broad spectrum – from traditional contracts supplemented by early-warning and partnering mechanisms through to fully integrated alliances.
What matters is that contractual arrangements reinforce, rather than undermine, the intended collaborative behaviour. Mechanisms such as early contractor involvement, target cost arrangements, appropriate governance structures, incentives and dispute-avoidance mechanisms can help translate collaborative intentions into practical project delivery. At the same time, collaboration is not a shortcut: responsibilities, liabilities and risk allocation still need to be clearly understood and actively managed.
As Hart emphasised, the contract should remain an active project-management tool. Collaboration requires the main contract, the supply chain and the wider delivery team to work in the same direction.
Giving designers the opportunity to add value early
David Cleaves completed the four perspectives by examining the role of the designer in a two-stage collaborative process. Traditional procurement can leave designers remote from clients, contractors and stakeholders, while important information on buildability, logistics, interfaces and investigations may only become available relatively late.
Collaborative delivery can create the time and environment needed to investigate, innovate, integrate and iterate before the design is locked. Early interaction between designers, clients, contractors and stakeholders can improve project definition, facilitate earlier decisions, resolve interfaces and incorporate buildability and logistics into the design. The result can be fewer late changes, greater cost and programme certainty, safer construction and better-defined risk.
Four takeaways from the first webinar
Across the four presentations and the subsequent discussion, four common themes emerged:
Choose the right model: Procurement and delivery models should reflect the project’s actual complexity and uncertainty.
Invest in people and behaviours: Trust, regular dialogue, strong leadership and timely decisions are fundamental to successful collaboration.
Align contracts, risk and incentives: Risk should be allocated to those best able to manage it, supported by transparent governance and incentives focused on shared outcomes.
Involve designers early: A properly resourced development stage creates the space to investigate, challenge, innovate and optimise before major commitments are made.
The wider message from the webinar was clear: Collaborative Delivery Models are not simply a different form of contract. They represent a different way of leading, procuring and managing complex infrastructure projects. Their purpose is not collaboration for its own sake, but better project outcomes, greater value for money and more resilient infrastructure.
EIC thanks all speakers and participants for contributing to the discussion, as well as Pinsent Masons and AECOM for supporting the webinar as sponsors.
The EIC CDM webinar series continues on 27 October 2026 with its second session, “When to use Collaborative Delivery Models”, moving from the introductory principles to the question of when collaborative approaches are most appropriate in practice.