Adapting standard forms of contract to facilitate building information modelling

The potential benefits of building information modelling (BIM) meant that its adoption rates had increased considerably. However, the adoption rates of BIM have slowed across the construction industry due to the many challenges that prevent its successful implementation on construction projects. Contractual challenges have been identified as one of the largest challenges hindering the widespread implementation of BIM within the industry. Contract-drafting bodies within the UK have released standard forms of contract and protocols to overcome these contractual challenges. However, the use of these contracts and protocols on construction projects is limited. This research shows a contract analysis on the latest versions of the Joint Contracts Tribunal’s Standard Building Contract with Quantities and the Construction Industry Council’s BIM protocol to identify how these contracts and protocols can be used in combination to overcome contractual challenges associated with the implementation of BIM. This research also assesses the gaps within contracts and protocols to explain why their use is so limited. The authors also propose solutions to these gaps to facilitate the contractual implementation of BIM on construction projects.