Legal and Contractual Determinants for Further Adoption of Building Information Modelling in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Intense international competition has led the construction industry to embrace technological digitalisation, including Building Information Modelling (BIM). Despite the well-established benefits of BIM’s collaborative nature, it remains constrained by various challenges, notably contractual ambiguity, throughout a project’s lifecycle. As a result, industry stakeholders remain cautious in adopting the technology, leading to slow adoption rates. Legal and contractual factors remain interdependent, with legal issues arising from current contractual practice that hinder the accommodation towards BIM’s roles, procedures, and outcomes. This paper aims to define the contractual determinants relevant to BIM projects within the construction industry. The paper adopts a comprehensive and systematic literature review to shed light in uncovering prevailing doubts and lack of enthusiasm towards its adoption. A four-stage process of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion through Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) of two significant peer-reviewed online databases, Scopus and Web of Science (WOS), has been used to uncover the research topic. The findings indicate unclear contractual documents, misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions, and inadequate contract management from the review of BIM contractual factors. By clarifying these factors, this paper aims to clarify the contractual aspects of BIM for industry stakeholders, thereby facilitating wider adoption and overcoming the challenges associated with the technology.