Model Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights for Collaborative Sustainability on Building Information Modeling

Abstract

The concept of building information modeling (BIM) requires multidisciplinary collaboration and generates the problem of intellectual property protection for the creator of the model element. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the model ownership factors and intellectual property rights (IPRs) for collaborative sustainability on BIM practices in Indonesia. This research used the qualitative approach of primary data, and questionnaires were distributed to parties involved and experienced with BIM-based projects in Indonesia. The research adopted descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze data obtained from respondents. The results showed that the party that produces the model element is the main factor that owns the model and the IPRs. Meanwhile, the employer will have the right to own the model of BIM in the form of a license, with limited use only for operations, maintenance, and marketing, and they do not have the right to reuse the model for the construction of future projects. This research is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge and provide recommendations for policymaking in construction contracts to better manage BIM-based projects.

Green Building Construction: A Systematic Review of BIM Utilization

“…Despite the significant advantages of BIM implementations in the green building construction phase, the challenges are still non-negligible. In the process of BIM utilization, many stakeholders cooperate using the same BIM platforms or files, which leads to the obscure copyright of the developed data in the green building construction process [165][166][167][168][169][170]. It is difficult for project managers to define the ownership of involved data [167,168].…”

“…In the process of BIM utilization, many stakeholders cooperate using the same BIM platforms or files, which leads to the obscure copyright of the developed data in the green building construction process [165][166][167][168][169][170]. It is difficult for project managers to define the ownership of involved data [167,168]. Moreover, given the relative independence of the design and construction organization, some information required in the green building construction process might not be obtained in the delivered BIM files [6,14].…”

A Systematic Review of Green Building Development in China: Advantages, Challenges and Future Directions

“…Their outputs can be integrated into one single file. This issue leads to the blurring of intellectual property rights [208][209][210]. Given that the stakeholders are collaborating on the same platform and files, the boundaries between contributions from different stakeholders are challenging to define [209,[211][212][213][214][215].…”

“…Given that the stakeholders are collaborating on the same platform and files, the boundaries between contributions from different stakeholders are challenging to define [209,[211][212][213][214][215]. Moreover, this obstacle can cause conflicts of interest and intellectual property ownership between stakeholders [208][209][210]214]. Moreover, a report from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing Urban-Rural Development and Management highlighted that the development of green buildings in China is hampered by the uncertain functional positioning of building energy conservation technology systems and operational energy efficiency constraints in public buildings [12,108,216,217].…”

“…Moreover, insufficient training regarding green-building-related technologies among green building design and construction personnel also delays the development and promotion of green buildings in China [11,[204][205][206][207]. In addition, due to the ambiguous property rights boundaries of the outcomes in the green building design and construction process, the working willingness of green building designers in China can be negatively affected [12,108,[208][209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217].…”