Building Information Modelling (BIM): insights from collaboration and legal perspectives

With the advent of the BIM technology, related guidelines have been formulated by project owners, governments and professional bodies. As an information sharing platform, BIM is applied to various kinds of construction projects for better management and collaboration. Yet, the existing off-the-shelf BIM application software does not fully consider the potential legal liabilities among the collaborating parties. In view of the above, we conducted a review of the relevant literature and legal cases to examine issues including ownership, liability and information reliance, and duty to warn from the perspectives of collaboration and laws. Common procurement initiatives were discussed in relation to BIM application. Drawn from the review and comparison, key legal issues of concern in BIM applications and the way forward for tackling the issues were identified. In conclusion, a collaborative approach under the BIM environment will work better under a project federated committee. Further research on the operation of this committee is recommended in order to make its authorities and liabilities clear.