BIM Coordination Dispute
Building Information Modeling Litigation Architectural Record reports that XL Insurance recently settled a messy case arising out of the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to design and construct a life sciences building at a major university. XL representatives would not name the parties involved but commented on the dispute to make people aware of the risks of BIM. The dispute centers on the lack of communication between the designers of the BIM model and the subcontractors actually responsible for performing the work – in this case the MEP contractor. The BIM model’s tolerances for spacing in the plenum were very tight but the nature of the restriction was not communicated properly to the MEP contractor. After the mechanicals were about 70% complete using normal sequencing, it dawned on everyone that they were out of space. Apparently, the design team did not communicate to the contractor that the very tight tolerances could only be achieved through a specific sequencing. The contractor sued the owner, the owner sued the architect, XL provides insurance to the design industry and so it brought in the MEP contractor. BIM Too Complicated for a Jury? The article reports that the resolution of the dispute was expensive …