EVALUATING THE BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) CONTRACTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND HONG KONG: A COMPARISON AND REVIEW OF THE SINGAPORE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY BIM PARTICULAR CONDITIONS

Abstract

The implementation of BIM in the Built Environment Industry in Singapore has been gaining traction over the past decade as the Singapore government has been pushing for the transition from 2D computer-aided design to 3D BIM. This transition was further accelerated in Singapore with the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore mandating architecture and engineering BIM e-submission for all new building projects with a gross floor area of 5,000 m2 and above. As more users come aboard to implement BIM in their projects, it is likely that more legal and contractual concerns have to be addressed, as such, the BCA BIM Particular Conditions were first published in 2012 and had its second revision in 2015 to address potential legal and contractual concerns in the BIM practice. However, the use of the BIM Particular Conditions is not compulsory in building projects and there has also been some time since the BIM Particular Conditions were revised. Therefore, in this dissertation, the author proposes to review the BIM Particular Conditions based on the best practices from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. A detailed analysis was done on the current legal and contractual concerns that the industry faced with regards to the implementation of BIM in Singapore, United Kingdom and Hong Kong to understand what could be lacking in the BIM Particular Conditions. Subsequently, responses collected from interviews conducted with BIM professionals would provide an in-depth understanding of the legal and contractual concerns that are faced in the actual practice of BIM. Finally, the legal and contractual concerns collated would be compared and evaluated with interview responses to propose the possible amendments to the BIM Particular Conditions in order to be updated with the current implementation of BIM.