Sell a BIM-model to the client?

[Marcus.Isacsson]

Hi fellow Reviters!

We have one of our first cases of this kind at our local office and I'm looking for some help.

We had a project where we got to to all the phases of drawing except the final one, which the contractors took to another office because they were a bit cheaper.

However, our models was always delivered using eTransmit which processes a cleanup of the models (deleting sheets, 2D-details, text etc.).
The customer wasn't used to this and got quite a shock seeing that all those models were empty (except the 3D-volumes ofcourse).

Our contracts are standardised and doesn't really go into detail regarding those matters. It's pretty much a grey area. 

Now I wonder:
1. Should this be completely free for the client to move over to other consultants or for their own cause free of charge or not?
2. Is it possible for us to sell this information? (that is a model with all the  sheets etc.intact)
3. Have you ever sold a BIM-model to your client?
4. How can you estimate the cost of such a model?
5. What kind of rights does the client vs the consultant have?
6. Should this be completely free for the client to move over to other consultants free of charge or not?

Thanks in advance!
/M.

[L.Maas]

I am not a lawyer and not familiar with your standard contracts or your country laws. So these are just my opinions.

If important you should look for legal advice

1-If nothing is in the contract and your work is done than the client can to other parties

2-Yes sure. You negotiate with your client about the services and deliverables and put that in a contract

3-Yes. If client wants a Revit model we deliver them (a deliverable in the contract). 

4-Depends on what is in it (e.g. special developed families or not), the amount of hours it took to create.

5-Basically what is in the contract and possibly what can be logically expected

6-See 1

Lots of these things should be in the contract. Make it clear what is expected form each other.

Now you are in a grey are and you will have to decide how to proceed. First step should be to talk to the client. Because it is a grey area you can expect to have to find a middle ground. Depending on your relation with the client you can be more lenient or more tough.

[Anonymous]

I think that in most cases, if you use a standardized contract without any mentioning of a BIM-model, handing the model over to a client SHOULD NOT BE FREE.

IF the contract is standardized there would be no mentioning of the creation of a model, and it is up to your office to decide by which method you can best deliver the project material requested by the client. You might have found that using CAD drawings was easier/better for you, in which case there would be no model and hence it could not be delivered

Having a BIM-model for a project simplifies a lot for both the client and you, but unless clearly stated in the contract is not a neccesity for a lot of projects. 

Handing out the BIM-model, especially in a scenario where your client wants to chance office, should NOT be free, unless clearly stated in the contract. If the new office could get free BIM-models to work with for every project of course they can be cheaper 🙂

[Marcus.Isacsson]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think that in most cases, if you use a standardized contract without any mentioning of a BIM-model, handing the model over to a client SHOULD NOT BE FREE.

IF the contract is standardized there would be no mentioning of the creation of a model, and it is up to your office to decide by which method you can best deliver the project material requested by the client. You might have found that using CAD drawings was easier/better for you, in which case there would be no model and hence it could not be delivered

Having a BIM-model for a project simplifies a lot for both the client and you, but unless clearly stated in the contract is not a neccesity for a lot of projects. 

Handing out the BIM-model, especially in a scenario where your client wants to chance office, should NOT be free, unless clearly stated in the contract. If the new office could get free BIM-models to work with for every project of course they can be cheaper 🙂

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Thanks for your answer. Have your office sold any of your models to clients? If so, how do you calculate a reasonable price?

In some degree it's mentioned that "The project should be projected in 3D".
But other than that its not mentioned that anything except the drawings should be delivered in any way. 

Altough it's common practice for us to upload models to a cloud where the consultans exchange models for collaboration.
But in this case we happened to clean the models. Otherwise I really believe that the client would take our model and just give it to the new firm without hesitating or asking. 

[Anonymous]

I think that's a tough question to answer and since i'm not the one handling economy, i wouldn't know the exact amounts from our office.

If i were to calculate the price of a BIM-model, i would try to estimate the amount of hours which have gone into the creation of the model alone (not including the project specific drawings/details).

I think doing it like that is justifiable, since a lot of the workload being put into the model in the earlier project phases are only "earned back" in the later phases (where your client now wish to change office). 

It is about finding a price where neither you or the client feel like they are getting robbed. Hopefully your client will understand that you cannot just hand out workhours for free, but on the other hand your price should not be so high that your reputation takes a hit.

Also, from a legal standpoint, your comment about "the project should be projected in 3D". Maybe seeking legal counsel might be a good idea if the project size is big enough to validate this. But then again, if this is just a small project, perhaps simply taking it as a lesson in the importance of doing solid contracts is the best option here.