Legal governance for BIM – rights management and lawful data use

Abstract

The use of BIM-modeling (BIM) within the building life cycle depends on different (specialist) models as well as a detailed as-built-model. The legally compliant transfer of data and models is decisive for the vision of a consistent use of BIM. Past legal research has mainly dealt with the question of copy and IP rights in contracts. The new EU legal framework of data law is now a game changer as codified legal rules for data use are on their way. The paper will reflect these requirements and link them to the relevant ISO norms. The paper will show how legal governance of BIM-models can be designed by a consistent model rights management which is linked to the technical delivery of information and present guidelines for a legally compliant transfer of BIM-models and data, promoting the trustworthy sharing of data and models within the building life cycle.