A Framework of Contractual Protocol for Building Information Modelling (BIM) Implementation in Water Treatment Plant Projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming a comprehensive collaborative process in the construction industry. Since the introduction of BIM in Malaysia in 2009, the technology adoption rate is slow when compared to other countries of the world. Most of the construction companies in Malaysia have an insight on the BIM concept but are yet to implement it in the management of their construction projects. By the year 2020, the Malaysian government will make BIM mandatory, this makes it important to carry out research on the possible applications of the technology. The aim for this research is to establish a Framework of Contractual Protocol for BIM-Water Treatment Plant projects in Malaysia. This research focuses on four (4) objectives which are: (a)to explore the Contractual Issues on BIM Implementation for Water Treatment Plant projects. (b) to identify the Contractual provision on BIM Implementation for Water Treatment Plant projects. (c) to determine the Requirement Components of Contractual Protocol for on BIM Implementation for Water Treatment Plant projects. (d) to establish a Framework of Contractual Protocol for on BIM Implementation for Water Treatment Plant projects. A qualitative method of enquiry was used for this study in Klang Valley using semi structured interview. The responses received were analyzed by using SPSS. The result of the analysis showed that the contractual issues posed by the adoption of BIM, the contractual provision, the requirement component of contractual protocol and to establish the framework of contractual protocol for BIM Implementation for Water Treatment Plant projects. The implication of this findings is that to prove the studies on legal and contractual aspect of BIM implementation in water Treatment Plant Projects is increase to meet the demand of the implementations of BIM technology is regarded as the future of construction industry, which makes it very important for the industry.


Introduction
Building information modeling (BIM) is acknowledged as a remedy for the problems and difficulties facing the building sector.In general, this technology promotes an integrated flow of multidisciplinary information throughout the project lifecycle and fosters collaborative environments [1].The primary benefit of BIM is that it allows project partners to virtually share data and information prior to the construction of any actual buildings [2].By themselves, these aspects lessen industry fragmentation and enhance cooperation and communication between the participants [3].To summarize, the industry will become smarter, more efficient in its design and construction, and more resilient.This is due to the fact that BIM not only allows design and construction teams to work more efficiently, but it also allow them to capture the data generated during the process for use in operations and maintenance activities [4].As the most recent information technology within the industry, the adoption of BIM has been in conflict with established standards of practice, particularly those relating to contractual standards and law that should guide how they should engage in the project [5].Uncertainties arise regarding whether current legal and contracting practices will facilitate or impede change in BIM execution.Many legal issues had been identified and were expected to arise as a result of the adoption of BIM, particularly those involving information exchange and cohesive integration and collaboration among project participants [3].Furthermore, when using BIM, legal concerns include model ownership and Intellectual Property (IP) rights, roles and responsibilities, standard of care and design, and software liability [6].Furthermore, the existing contract conditions in the standard contract were developed prior to the emergence of BIM.As a result of this gap, the legal framework must be structured, standardized, and industry-wide, as future technology is expected to be more collaborative and information-rich.
The appropriate contractual model must be used to support each building project.The technical aspects of BIM Deliverables, such as the type of software and level of information to be employed, are simply one component of the contractual model for BIM compliant project that raises difficulties [7] noted that the activity of creating, exchanging, and analyzing digital information throughout the construction lifecycle is fraught with numerous uncertainties and dangers.On the other hand, the Malaysia's government had defined and describe the uptake of BIM in term of its maturity as part of the CIDB BIM Guide 2016.The promising benefits of BIM adoption can only be achieved if there are collaboration among the project participants and integration of information [8].Whereas, Antwi-afari, [9] further claimed that among the major Critical Success Factors (CSF) for successfully implementing BIM are collaboration in design, engineering, and construction stakeholders, earlier and accurate 3D visualization and enhancing exchange of information.Therefore, the concerns on the contracting consideration are not only focus to avoid the new construction disputes but also to enable and support the BIM collaboration processes and provide certainty beyond organizational boundaries.It also covers the concerns on the gap of current state of legal system within the Malaysian construction industry in respect to the application of BIM.

Research Methods
The aim and objectives of this research can be addressed by using a methodological approach that has been carefully thought out.The technique utilized to gather the information needed to accomplish the research objectives is known as research methodology.In this study, the entire qualitative research methodology was used.The first step of data collection for the qualitative study used a multi-case exploratory study, and the second stage involved semi-structured interviews.The final stage, which included a validation stage for the suggested considerations, also applied the qualitative component of the research.Following is a chart of the stages related to the research methodologies used in this study to ensure the validity of the research:

Stage 1: Extensive Literature Review
In stage 1, an extensive literature review was carried out on the background of the research to understand the topic of this research.An extensive literature review was executed to study on the concept and fundamental theory of BIM such as the dimensions, maturity levels and applications.In addition, the utilization of BIM within Malaysian context was further deliberated in this stage.Lastly, this stage has included a review of literature on the gaps of utilizing BIM from the legal perspectives which considers the contracting considerations between the project parties.

Stage 2: Qualitative Research-Multi Exploratory Case Study
In the second stage, the case studies were conducted to describe the process and practices of BIM in the selected BIM public building projects.Mix data collection methods were adopted for the multi exploratory case study which is observation on the BIM output, document review on the BIM document and semi-structured interview with BIM personnel.In reference to Table 1., every method in this stage represents their own objectives which then would assists to achieve the main objective which are to explore the utilization of BIM in the PWD public building projects.The stage examine how BIM helps in promoting collaboration and information sharing as characterized and ways it can fit within the legal and commercial environment of public building projects.

Stage 3: Qualitative Research-Semi-Structured Interviews with BIM Personnel
In the third stage, the semi-structured interviews have been chosen to conduct the integral part of the research.The semistructured interviews were conducted to a group of respondents comprising of BIM personnel that are actively involved as a manager, coordinator or executive in related BIM projects.Majority of them was retrieved from the list of members of BIM Institute Malaysia assisted in the selection of respondents.The potential group of respondents was chosen in Klang Valley only.The data collected from the case studies and semi-structured interviews formed the primary data for this study.

Stage 4: Proposal of a BIM Contracting Consideration
In stage 4, the data collected from the three stages were contextualized and analyzed.Thus, the data collected designed a series of contracting considerations to support the utilization of BIM within the PWD water treatment plant projects in Malaysia.This research was expected to propose a contracting consideration from the data collected throughout the study.

Stage 5: Qualitative Research-Validation of Proposed Contracting-Expert Interview
The last stage which is the fifth stage in this research acted as a validation stage to validate the research findings to contextualize into an established proposed element.The instrument chosen to represent qualitative research is expert interview.The purpose of the validation interview is to examine the practicality of the proposed contracting considerations to be applied in the water treatment plant projects regardless of their type of procurement.The expert interviews are going to be applied to assist the respondent to provide their opinion and recommendations on the proposed contracting considerations for BIM implementation in Malaysian water treatment plant projects.The proposed considerations were revised where relevant according to the responses from the validation interviews. .

Results and Discussion
In line with the purpose of this research, all respondents are highly experienced and hold specific position at top management level with 60% (9 respondents) of them acting as Director and Manager (Table 2.).In terms of academic background, all of them were Bachelor's degree holder (100%, 15 respondents) with construction related backgrounds.Based on the table also, the number of contractor (40%, 6 respondents) are similar with consultant and all of the respondents (15%, 100 respondents) had an experienced in BIM project between 3 to 5 years of experience.It is evident by looking at the background of respondents, most of them were generally highly qualified and experienced, therefore reliable for the purpose of this study.

Consultant
This section presents the findings for the semi-structured interview.The respondents were experienced BIM personnel from the private sector and public sector under Public Work Department (PWD).

FIGURE 1. List of Contracting Issues
Figure 1 shows the list of relevant contracting issues surrounding the implementation of BIM obtained from the respondent in interview process.From the interview, this research identified 21 issues which has been grouped thematically.Each issue will be explained in detail in the part of this chapter.

BIM Instruction in Contract/Agreement
The contracting parties should be clear on the instruction of using BIM in the project delivery.R4 and R7 explains that the client should clearly mentioned the intention of using BIM in the contract document, while R6, R2 and R15 further adds that it should be highlighted earlier especially during the invitation or appointment proposal.R4 and R8 emphasizes that the requirement of using BIM can be a general instruction in the main contract but it need to detail up the technical process and deliverables in another appended document.R1 and R3 concurs that it is important to ensure any parties that involved in BIM enabled project to comply by participate and collaborate diligently.R9 explains that if the requirement does not come from the client but from contractor team, the contractor can specify to their subcontractor in the appointment letter regarding the roles and limitation in BIM process and practices.R10 and R14 raises their opinion on the needs to specify the scopes of building or works expected from the BIM implementation in the project for example the creation of 3D model.This is important to avoid any grey areas that would open to another disputes.

Creation and use of BIM Families
The respondent suggested to consider the creation and use of the BIM families in the BIM enabled project.R1 highlights that the document should explains the detail parameter of information that needed to be developed by the BIM team.R3, R4, and R9 mentions that this detail must be standardize to avoid missing information during the extraction or decision-making process especially on the general objects such as M&E equipment.Similarly, R5 and R14 agrees on the ideas to standardize the parameter required but the detail must be adjusted to the specific project.On the other hand, R6, R7, R8 and R11 concurs that if the objects or families is downloaded from the internet it must come from a trusted website or supplier in order to control its integrity and quality.Most important, R13 points out that the family or object created must comply with the existing local standard available.R10 further emphasizes that the contracting team should consider to state the level of detail required for each project stage and must cover all the disciplines involved.

Model Regulatory Clearance
The next consideration suggested by the respondents is on the generation of drawing from the model in BIM environment.As the BIM platform capable to generate a construction drawing from the BIM model; R1, R2, R3, R4 and R8 highlights that the model creation must follow the specific local act and regulations.R5, R10 and R15 emphasizes this should be considered critically especially when one of the BIM objectives in the project is to generate a 2D drawing.Furthermore, R11 explains that with the current use of BIM, the submission to the authorities are still in the 2D printed drawing.R6 and R7 further highlights the project that team should specify what are the act or regulatory concerns which should be consider during the model development in order to comply with the authorized bodies.R12 and R13 both agrees that this consideration should be specify as part of modelling requirement to ensure the quality of the output from the model.

BIM Reference Document
The respondents in this study also gave an opinion on the consideration to specify the BIM reference document.As explained by R1, there are many documents used to support the execution of BIM in the project.R6 and R11 explains that each of the document have different function and some of them take precedence to another document.R2 clearly highlights that the involved party should consider to state which document should be prioritized in the BIM process.R3 supports the statement by explained that the use of same document is important to create a mutual understanding for example on the LOD, Lod, naming convention, color code and BIM related process.On the other hand, R4, R5, R7 and R12 emphasizes that the parties should know which document supersede other document especially in the event of dispute and discrepancies.R9 mentioned that the document used in the BIM execution should be specified clearly to give a clear direction and reference to the project team.Meanwhile, R11 concurs that there must be a tolerance or flexibility of using each of the document as it may not be perfect to cover all legal and contractual consideration.

Conclusion
This research concludes what to be considers by the contracting parties in the project regarding the implementation of BIM and initiatives should be taken by the government agencies, local authorities and practitioners as a whole in order to deal the with the issues and gap on the legal and contractual parts.It had analyzed and reviewed the legal and contractual issues pertaining to BIM implementation in the project.Moreover, as stated in research design and methodology it also investigated the existing process and practices engendered throughout the BIM implementation in the water treatment plant project handled by the Public Work Department (PWD).

Table 1 .
Case study design