- Watch out
- What it costs
- Experienced readers
- Remember
- In BIMpedia
Models move freely on a project: uploaded, federated, downloaded, measured, copied into other tools. That ease hides three questions that the contract, not the software, answers. Who owns the model? Who may use it, and for what? Who may rely on it, and for what?
- Ownership (intellectual property, often copyright) usually stays with the author: the architect owns the architect's design.
- A licence lets others use it for stated purposes, such as building and maintaining this project.
- Reliance means you may act on the information and hold its author responsible if it is wrong, within the purpose for which it was issued.
The contractor's buyer downloads the architect's model from the CDE, takes the internal wall areas and orders plasterboard. The model was at "S2, for information": the walls were still being developed. The order is 12% short. The contractor asks the architect to pay for the extra delivery; the architect points to the status code.
The BEP and the appointments state which models may be relied on for quantities, and from which status. The buyer checks: walls are issued for construction (status A) only next month. They order the long-lead items now from the cost plan and the plasterboard from the issued model later.
The three questions
| Question | Usual answer | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns it? | The author keeps the intellectual property | Each appointment |
| Who may use it? | Others get a licence for the project's purposes (design, construction, operation) | Appointment, information protocol |
| Who may rely on it? | Anyone, for the purpose and status it was issued for | Appointment, BEP, status codes |
Decide each case.
Can they use it?
Usual appointments: authors keep ownership and license the project team and client for this project. Decide each case.
- Contractor measures a model issued for construction, to build this project
- Client reuses the design model for a different building
- Facility manager uses the as-built model to run the building
- Subcontractor fixes an error directly in the architect’s model
Key takeaways
- Ownership, licence to use and reliance are three different questions; contracts should answer each.
- Usually the author keeps the intellectual property and grants others a licence for the project's purposes.
- You can rely only on what the contract says you can: check the status and the stated purpose before using a model.
- Each party is responsible for its own model; the federated model doesn't move that responsibility.