Construction partnering has been used both in the United States and elsewhere since the early 1980s as a methodology to reduce litigation and improve productivity.
In 1987, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) at The University of Texas at Austin formed a task force to explore a process to address the issues that brought the people involved in construction projects to litigation.
In the late 1980s the Corps used the partnering process on two of their construction projects with great success.
Twenty-four of the 50 state transportation programs have adopted Partnering as an important process to improve outcomes.
Several state transportation departments (including Caltrans, Maryland SHA, ODOT, ADOT and others) now require a partnering process by specification.