Tag Archive | BIM legal
March 17, 2014  

The Legal BIM Frontier; Contracts, execution planning and recent case developments

The Legal BIM Frontier; Contracts, execution planning and recent case developments

Speaker: Rebecca McWilliams AIA, Esq.

March 11th 2014 @ NYCRUG http://www.meetup.com/NYC-RUG/

November 4, 2013  

PAS1192-3 Draft released for public consultation

PAS1192-3 Has been released for public consultation today, sponsored by CIC and available to download on the BSI website here

This PAS specifies requirements for achieving BIM Level 2 in relation to the operation and maintenance of assets (buildings and infrastructure).

It covers the data transfer processes to inherit asset information from the project information model (PIM) or to create an asset information model (AIM) for an existing asset or portfolio of assets, to use it to support organizational requirements, to revise it as the asset changes, and to hold it as a resource for the owners, operators and maintainers of the asset.

This PAS does not cover data content but does cross-refer to broad headings and documents which define data content.

This PAS is for use by organizations and individuals responsible for the operation, maintenance and strategic management of assets. In particular, it is of use to individuals involved in transferring data from the PIM to an AIM utilised by the organization.

NOTE An organization may apply this PAS without necessarily needing to use BIM Level 2. However, an organization required to apply BIM Level 2 to the operational phase of an asset would need to apply this PAS.

 

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October 2, 2013  

BIM and Intellectual property

Following on from some recent posts regarding copyright and security issues with BIM I found this article on the CIOB Construction Manager website.

It raises some important points regarding confidentiality of files in the  federated model. As a fairly new process there are still gaps in certain areas, legal issues certainly one of the grey areas. Organisations such as The CIC are working towards a solution with the recent release of a copyright license form which I’m assuming will be updated and revised as agreements are formed.

via Construction Manager – Management. By Assad Maqbool

Copyright and confidentiality issues have mainly focused on the employer or end user having the right to use hard copy documents produced by contractors’ and consultants’ teams throughout the project itself and for future maintenance and possible extension. These will continue to apply to projects which adopt BIM, but there are new issues as well.

At BIM Level 2, each contributing party produces its individual inputs using various software platforms. These “inputs” vary, but can include design data, cost data, design processes, tables, databases and graphical information. Using BIM software specifically designed to interface between the contributors’ various software platforms, the inputs are coordinated to create a single federated but cohesive model.

From a copyright perspective this is largely business as usual. However, one of the key benefits of BIM is the potential to assist and streamline the provision of facilities management services during the life of a building. Copyright licences from contributing parties need to be sufficiently wide in scope to include use of the works for the future lifespan of the building. Some existing drafting may need amending to clearly cover this.

It is also possible that copyright will exist in the federated models as well as the inputs from contributors. A BIM information manager, for example, might use sufficient skill in adapting the software used for the project and collating the inputs of each contributor to become the owner of the copyright in the model itself.

As project information is stored in federated models throughout a project, each contributing party’s intellectual property is more accessible to other contributors and end users of the model (such as the developer, tenant, purchaser). As the model shows the results of patented processes and designs as well as “knowing” the building codes, algorithms and applicable engineering principles, confidential information is more open than before.

Mutual confidentiality and non-disclosure clauses should be used to deal with and compensate for possible misuse or re-use of a contributor’s input, or the inadvertent sharing of proprietary information, manufacturing process data or patented processes.

The Construction Industry Council has recently published a suggested form of BIM protocol which provides for a copyright licence but is narrow in scope and does not address the issue of copyright subsisting in the BIM model itself, nor the issue of confidentiality, both of which remain to be dealt with.