Cooperative Construction in Schools in California John M. Donley The construction industry has lost efficiency since 1964, while becoming increasingly more litigious. Schools in California can ill afford the time to allow the construction industry time to fully evolve. It may take years or decades to fully improve the efficiency of, and reduce the conflict within the construction industry. At the same time, the construction industry has developed new processes to improve efficiency and reduce conflict. These processes are beginning to be broadly embraced by the industry. They all contain cooperative elements. Taken together they represent a new organizing principle for the construction industry, cooperative construction. Also concurrently, a previously little-used provision of the California Education Code allows schools freedom to contract for school construction in nearly any reasonable contractual arrangement they see fit for their project and district needs. As a result, school districts in California have developed a new system of project delivery. They are borrowing from here and there and inventing new tools to make projects work for them. Again, cooperative elements at the hearts of the processes.