Appropriateness of Existing Standard Form of Building Contract to Building Information Modelling (BIM) Environment

Synopsis

Submitted to Open University Malaysia for the registration of the topic for Master of Project Management in the Faculty of Science and Technology

Submitted by
Name : Cheang Kok Fook Learning Centre : Kuala Lumpur Matric Number : CGS 00617417 I/C Number : 711114-02-5689

Supervised by
Name: Specialisation : Institution :

Contents
1. 2. 3. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM....................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND AND HISTORY ................................................................................ 1 JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................... 2 Digital data protocols and ownership ........................................................................................... 2 Coordination and reliance ................................................................................................................ 2 Project responsibilities and risks allocation ................................................................................ 2 Copyright / use of documents ......................................................................................................... 2 Contractual privity; waivers and indemnities ............................................................................. 3 4. 5. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................. 4 Methods and Procedures................................................................................................................... 4 Proposed Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................ 4 Works Cited .......................................................................................................................... 8

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1.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The purpose of this research is to ascertaining the appropriateness of existing standard form of building contract to Building Information Modelling (BIM) environment. This research will also examine the current literature to date on the contractual and risk allocation implications associated with the use of BIM, and propose an implementation plan to transition to BIM.

2.

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an intelligent model-based process that provides insight for creating and managing building and infrastructure projects faster, more economically, and with less environmental impact. BIM includes a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for design, visualization, simulation, and collaboration that uses the rich information in the intelligent model to inform better decision-making and break down the barriers to better project delivery.

Despite the significant benefits associated with BIM, there are several contractual issues that design and construction industry has not addressed properly. In the Malaysia, the commonly use standard form of building contract, such as PAM 2006 Form of Building Contract for private sector, and P.W.D. Form 203A (Revision 2007) for public sector, are principally concerned with Employer-Architect-Contractor rights, risks and responsibilities, whereas BIM is essential a collaborative effort amongst several different entities in the virtual and digital environment, This difference in focus results in a tension between an individual firms need to tightly define their responsibilities and limit their reliance on others, and the need to promote collaboration and encourage reliance on information stored within a shared building model.

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3.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

The implementation of BIM on a project raises important contractual issues that may not be addressed by existing standard form of contract. Some key issues include:

Digital data protocols and ownership

The contract should define the specific software and hardware to be used by project team members for the creation of various elements of the BIM, and it should define clear protocols for determining which member(s) of the project team will have the ability to create, modify, and/or use various elements of the model.

Coordination and reliance

The contract should define the extent to which team members may rely on each others contributions to the BIM, so long as the digital data protocols discussed above are observed. For the architect, it will also be critical to define who has responsibility to coordinate and/or ensure the quality of contributions to the BIM by other parties, including by the owner and its consultants and by the contractor and its subcontractors.

Project responsibilities and risks allocation

The contract should ensure that parties do not take on responsibilities that are outside of their scope, fee, and risk, solely by virtue of participating in the creation of the BIM models. Specifically, the contract should state that participation does not make the architect responsible for construction means, methods, and safety programs, and that it does not make the contractor responsible for project design.

Copyright / use of documents

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The contract should ensure that participation in creation of the BIM models does not inadvertently change the parties expectations with respect to the copyright and use of the documents they have created. Parties also need to realize that contributions to the BIM models by all parties (notably the contractor and its subcontractors) are potentially copyrightable, and so rights to their use should be specifically negotiated in all project contracts.

Contractual privity; waivers and indemnities

The contract must state clearly that participation in creation of the BIM does not give rise to contractual privity among participants who have not otherwise entered into agreements (for example, between the architect and the contractor and subcontractors). Otherwise, if the use of BIM gave rise to unforeseen categories of liability and uninsured risk, that could severely discourage its adoption. The contract should also address mutual waivers and indemnities among parties, relating to the issues identified above.

4.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to (Ashcraft, 2008), absence of standard BIM contract documents will hinder development of BIM. There is an argument that due to the substantial changes in nature of the full adoption of BIM will bring, it is better to draft new form of contracts. This in practice would require new form of contracts to cover the various relationships (i.e. Employer and Consultant, Contractor and Sub-contractor etc.) affected by the BIM working method.

The alternative argument proposes the incorporation of contract terms and condition of BIM protocol which would be a set of amendments to the main contract to make them suitable for BIM. The amendments could then be incorporated into the various agreements used for the project, ensuring that there is a similar set of BIM related rights and obligations 3|Page

flowing through the different contracts. This allows parties to retain the contracts they are accustomed to while adopting BIM.

At present the US has two BIM specific contracts developed, the Consensus DOCs 301 and AIA E202 in which both use standard contracts for which a BIM addendum has been developed. The US Consensus DOCs 301 and AIA E202, through slightly different, offer a starting place in the development of this contract, as they both regulate 1) The project owners entitlement to use the full design model after completion of the project, 2) A limited, non-exclusive license to reproduce, distributes, display, or otherwise use that partys contributions for purposes of this project only, 3) Project participants must develop a detailed BIM execution plan, 4) The contract addendum limits reliance on any design model to the extent it is included as a contract document, 5) The project owner must appoint one or more information managers, 6) If project participants elect not to use E202-2008 or Consensus DOCS 301, they must ensure that their custom contracts thoroughly address BIM and its unique influence on the project.

5.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Methods and Procedures

Structured questionnaires will be send to minimum 200 key players in the field of building industry including employer, consultant (architecture, engineering and quantity surveyor), contractor and sub-contractor, randomly selected from within Kuala Lumpur region. Data collected will then analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the hypotheses ware tested using t-test at 0.5% level of confidence.

Proposed Chapter Outline

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Preliminary Section

TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

Body of Research Report

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

1.2 Problem Statement

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.4 Research Questions and Hypotheses

1.5 Significance of the Study

1.6 Scope of the Study 5|Page

1.7 Definitions of Terms

CHAPTER 2 - REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Previous Studies

2.1.1 Project success criteria

2.1.2 Importance or organization factors for business project

2.2 Methodological Issues

2.3 Conceptual Framework

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY

3.1 Theoretical Framework

3.2 Research Design

3.3 Framework for Data Analysis

CHAPTER 4 - DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

CHAPTER 5 - DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

5.1 Summary of Main Findings

5.2 Discussion

5.3 Implications

5.4 Limitations of the Study 6|Page

5.5 Directions for Future Research

Supporting Materials

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

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Works Cited
Ashcraft, H. W. (2008). Building Information Modeling: A Framework for Collaboration. Construction Lawyer, 28.

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