BIM has been widely implemented in architectural-engineering-construction (AEC) industry. In
order to use BIM properly, a careful examination of the criteria of BIM for execution on the project is
essential. An attorney who is well versed with BIM contract language should be
appointed to evaluate the BIM application process.
There are two commonly used documents focusing on the
framework of BIM :-
AGC ConsensusDOCS
301 BIM Addendum - This document is developed by the Associated General
Contractors (AGC) of America. This type of document is mainly created to plug
the void originated from typical standard form agreements which insufficiently,
or can’t fully deal with BIM. This document takes into consideration different
segments like definitions, information management, the BIM implementation plan,
risk sharing, intellectual property rights, and collaboration.
AIA E202-2008
Building Information Modeling Protocol - This document is developed by the
American Institute of Architects (AIA). The document aimed at creating an outline
for establishing model content, model handling, and model element
responsibility.
The above two
documents are very effective in communicating & controlling the risk
assignment concerning with BIM implementation.
The parties involved in the project should initially make a
decision on the purpose of the model. Once it has been settled, determination
the risks for each party become easier.
Before
applying BIM in a project, design professionals must highlight some fundamental
risk management ideas to find out the legitimacy of BIM. Some of those
considerations are as follows :-
BIM involves new business models,
hardware, software, and human capital. The costs and risks may relate with the
hardware and software investments. BIM is a multifaceted design tool and a
thorough understanding of the software is necessary to efficiently deal with
and assure design liability.
In order to drive a BIM model there
should be enough control and understanding of the technology towards
controlling it’s unpredictability and blurred lines of right and responsibility.
Project managers should be trained in every phases of the BIM platform
Every organization will have to be conscious of several
technical challenges that generate risk in order that it may employ mitigation
measures. These types of technical issues may range from interoperability,
software limitations, and file storage and transfer limitations.
There
should be proper BIM related service agreements authorized by owners, design professionals, and
their legal counsel.
To reap the prospective BIM benefits
the risks and information should be allocated equally between the
design-construction team as well as the owner, designer, contractor,
subcontractors, and suppliers.
Designers must be careful at the
time of generating the model with the intention that the Building Information
Model they utilize is not restricted to a solitary source, if not an owner purposely
ask for it.
Software manufacturers should be
cautious toward over-promise or certification of the competence of their
products which facilitates design professionals, project owners & others
team members associated with the project to easily access to the BIM. All
parties must perform mutually to build up new contract forms useful for addressing,
allocating, and distributing risk impartially in a clear way.
Design changes in a BIM model may result
in enhancing the risk of design and range of services. Information along with design
elements is provided into the BIM database and the database communicates
elements of a building design. So if a change happens to one phase of the
design all interrelated designs consequently are reconfigured. The push for applying
BIM’s flexibility to create change upon change right equal to and together with
bidding and construction will have to be uncompromisingly controlled and persistently
restrained. Although make alteration in BIM is simple, but budgets and
design-construction schedules are not as flexible.
Design professionals have to face
several quarries while finalizing their design documents. These quarries may
range from - What control over the design is to be surrendered to the software
providers, contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers, and suppliers? Where should
be the line involving the designer-of-record and the other entities contributing
input to the model? Should the designer-of-record express his/her control over
the design without having BIM expertise? Exclusive of sufficient supervision,
is BIM close to the risks concerning off shore outsourcing?
BIM touts its ability to eliminate
design conflicts, reduce errors, and limit omissions. But a question remains –
will the use of BIM raise the standard of care? Will design professionals using
BIM be held to a standard of care equal to perfection or something very close
to it? It will be a long while before there is case law addressing these
questions. In the short term, designers need to be proactive in defining and
reinforcing the concept that the standard of care for BIM-delivered projects as
being the same as the standard of care for conventionally-delivered designs.
The BIM users should have sufficient
technical and managerial skills toward managing access to all the “pieces and
parts, revising & tracking model changes for successfully control model
inputs and outputs.
Design professionals while
delivering BIM-related information to Consultants, contractors, suppliers, and
subcontractors, should necessitate an executed disclaimer like those presently utilized
together with providing CADD files.
The risks may also be connected with
working across software boundaries in creating design-construction software
work.
Design professionals find it
difficult to handle the design process for sufficient detailing and quality assurance/control
activities. If any construction document is issued from a BIM model not
highlighting detail and quality reviews properly, may lead to budget and
schedule failures. So designers should assign the essential resources to get
rid of the problems.
Useful
Reference :-
Managing the Risks of BIM
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