Bim adoption in construction projects funded with state-managed capital in vietnam: Legal issues and proposed solutions

Abstract

It is claimed that Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been adopted in the construction industry in Vietnam since early 2000. However, in practice, this proves not to be the case, particularly in the context of construction projects funded with state-managed capital. Considering that such funding accounts for the largest market share in construction funded projects in Vietnam, further investigation is warranted. A preliminary survey reveals that the owners and other stakeholders of these projects are cautious of BIM adoption, primarily due to avoiding legal issues that may arise in such projects. In this context, this paper aims to explore the potential legal issues of BIM adoption and propose solutions for the stakeholders. The results will aid in avoiding the issues outlined, which can aid in promoting BIM adoption in Vietnam. Literature shows that the legal issues are not only applicable to Vietnam, but to other countries. To identify the legal issues which arise from BIM adoption in construction projects globally, a through literature review is carried out, where then a survey is performed with stakeholders of construction projects funded with state-managed capital in Vietnam. This then provides the opportunity to verify if the literature findings apply to Vietnam, as well as to discover new issues in a Vietnamese context. According to the survey results, the biggest legal issues for BIM adoption in construction projects funded with state-managed capital in Vietnam are; (i) no expenses system for BIM implementation available, so there is no source of funding for paying consultants/contractors for BIM; (ii) rights and obligations of stakeholders in BIM projects are not defined clearly in the relevant regulations, so there is a high risk of claims and disputes arising; (iii) no digital submission system available, thereby BIM models are not accepted, but hardcopy printouts used, leading to significant work of reviewing and verification of as-built documents. Solutions for these issues are generated and validated with focus groups, which lead to the suggestions of regulation alterations as well as revisions of contract forms/articles applied in construction projects funded with state-managed capital in Vietnam.