Legal issues in
project delivery

As systems change and develop, new
considerations come into play

BY CINDY GRAHL

The new project delivery system now under study in Ohio for public projects (BXM May, 2010, p 37) basically changes how we allocate risks on projects, according to Alan Ritchie, of Thomson Hine LLP’s Construction and Real Estate Practice, speaking at a recent Cleveland COAA meeting. Thus, adds the attorney, documentation is needed for this unique situation beyond AIA forms. “Integrated project delivery and building information modeling are all about information,” he says. “Both are growing, and legal documentation should be created to document the relationships and processes that result. This documentation creates a system of rewards and incentives needed to freely share reliable data—clear legal documentation, a clear business model.”
IPD: Ritchie explained that the AIA has an IPD document that recognizes this delivery system, and that the linear approach does not bring the right information into the design process early enough. The group has fielded a series of documents, with C-191 being the latest and best. This multi-party document has owner, architect and contractor factions joining in on a project executive team and a project management team, with unanimous decisions necessary. The AIA IPD document approach promotes early involvement, uses a compensation structure and leads to team decision-making.
The phases of IPD, he says, are conceptualization, criteria design, detail design, implementation, agency review, contract buyout and the construction phase. It differs from traditional systems in that the design takes longer upfront, but the project schedule is ultimately shorter. Input from key subs is made far earlier. With IPD C-191, profits come from incentives and goal achievement, with one benefit being that costs are always paid if the target cost is exceeded. Risk management provisions are also included. BIM also raises certain legal issues, Ritchie said. With BIM’s distributed design, it is important to know who owns the design and who is responsible for it at a point in time. C-191, he noted, requires BIM.
The AIA was the first to offer BIM documentation to manage the use of BIM across the entire project with its E202 BIM document. Among other things, it set the requirements and authorized uses for BIM content, and identified BIM
authors at five progressive levels of development, from 100,
conceptual, to 500, as built. It also established protocols for model ownership, conflict resolution, storage, viewing and archiving. E202 is also useful with traditional project delivery. BXM