A Gap Analysis of Current CCDC Standard Contract Documents and Provisions for Successful BIM-Enabled Projects in Canada

Abstract

Building Information Modeling (BIM) emphasizes the importance of information flow, communication, and collaboration amongst team members. Successful implementation of BIM is helping the industry move from traditional project delivery systems to integrated ones. This transition, however, requires reliable and concrete contractual mechanisms to provide guidance and structure. Risk allocation, role definition, and legal dimensions have been achieved through a series of contractual functions such as control, coordination, and contingency. While past scientific publications have investigated the impact of contracts on BIM and vice-versa, questions remain as to how these realization mechanisms interact with BIM requirements and legal issues. This study aimed at understanding the influence of contractual language and legal aspects on BIM-enabled projects. To do so, an in-depth literature review was performed in multiple rounds. Problematic issues in contracts were identified, including contractual complexity, emphasis on controlling provisions, contract incompleteness and missing or unclear legal clauses. Then a coding system was created based on the legal factors identified. The results indicate that current standardized contracts in Canada are incomplete and ill-adapted to support effective BIM implementation. The key elements such as intellectual property, ownership of data, responsibilities regarding the production and control of critical project data and asset information are underrated or overlooked. While efforts have been made to counter this (e.g., IBC BIM contract appendix and BIM Execution Plans), these efforts remain fragmented and bespoke for the most part, which introduces variability in the contracting process and therefore impacts the BIM implementation process at the project level.