Preliminary checklist proposal for enhancing BIM-based construction project contracts

Abstract

In multi-participant BIM-based construction projects (BbCP), the organization of inter-stakeholder relationships has become challenging. The emerging BIM roles and responsibilities that are not clearly defined as a standard, complicate this process further. Legal regulations and contracts prepared according to traditional construction methods are insufficient to identify these new and complex relationships. This uncertainty hinders the spread of BIM-integrated projects, causing stakeholders to have legal concerns about BIM-based projects. Within the scope of this research, the legal concerns related with BIM-based projects and critical points to be considered in the contract preparation phase were determined through literature review, case law research, first and second stage interviews and a questionnaire survey. 25 main and 32 sub-critical points were identified and recommended to be considered in the contract phase were categorized under 9 headings (i.e., administrative decisions, analysis, legal issues, allocation of risks and responsibilities, intellectual property rights (IPR), information management, interoperability, data security and the operation phase). As an outcome, this paper proposes a preliminary checklist template that can be used as an input to the contract phase of BbCP. With the support of checklist, measures can be taken at the contract stage for potential legal problems that may occur in the project life-cycle. The checklist can serve as a starting point for legislators and regulators to ensure the compatibility of traditional construction contracts with new technologies. Finally, addressing legal issues in BbCP can alleviate stakeholders’ concerns and lead to the spread of BbCP in the construction industry.