April 14, 2008

EDITOR'S NOTES

Building information modeling has created a lot of chatter in all areas of the construction industry. Owners want the overall cost benefits of BIM. Designers like its show-and-tell features. Contractors save time and money with the clash detection capabilities, among other things. Subcontractors maximize their efforts with the easier coordination among the trades. And, end users like the facility management tools. At this point, the question isn’t about if an organization will use BIM, but rather, when it will convert to modeled collaboration. Two players in the construction process, however, still have a plethora of unanswered questions—the attorneys and insurers. What are the risks of this new format? How fully can the user rely on the information? Who bears the risk? How do you insure that risk? How do you incorporate the risks into contract documents? When the project is done, who owns the model and who is authorized to use it? WPL Publishing recently presented "BIM Risk Factors," the final audio conference in its five-part series on building information modeling. Experts discussed the answers to these questions and more. We present a recap of that conference in this week’s issue. Copies of the teleconference CDs and associated presentation materials may be ordered individually or for the complete series at http://stores.homestead.com/ConstructionOnline. Click on the left menu item Audioconference CDs and Training Guides. Continuing in the same question-asking vein, can a government agency use negotiated procurement practices when sealed bidding is the legal requirement? Can a contractor claim a differing site condition if the bid documents specifically called attention to possible discrepancies? And, can a subcontractor file suit against a government agency for payment? The answers are in this week’s issue of the Advisor.

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