BIM in practice: ownership of design data and access to the CDE
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a technological solution intended to facilitate the sharing of design information in real time amongst the project team by means of a common software platform (sometimes referred to as the Common Data Environment), and its use is now mandatory on all UK government projects. A recent case saw a claimant being denied access to the BIM platform by its consultant in a dispute over unpaid fees, and seeking an interim mandatory injunction to restore it.
Trant Engineering v Mott MacDonald
Trant was employed by the Ministry of Defence to construct a £55 million power station at the Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands. Trant employed Mott MacDonald Ltd (“MML”) to provide design consultancy and principal designer services, including the implementation and use of a BIM platform called ProjectWise to enable the design team to manage, share and distribute design data.
A dispute over payment and scope emerged between the parties, as well as an argument over the correct terms of the contract between them (or whether one existed at all). MML applied for a payment of £475,000 in respect of which no pay less notice was given and no payment was made.
MML threatened to suspend services in respect of the unpaid application and three days later denied Trant access to the ProjectWise platform. Trant applied for a mandatory interim injunction requiring MML to restore its access on the basis that it would otherwise suffer substantial losses on the project. MML claimed that there was no contract between the parties and that Trant had no contractual right to access ProjectWise in those circumstances or at least in the absence of payment.
Shona Frame & Tim Atwood
29 BuildLaw | Dec 2017
UNITED KINGDOM