Sharing Revit Model With Client

[jwallace2T8CK]

Hi All,

I've got a situation at the moment where we began a project in Revit, as it suited us to do so, but the client never stated they wanted or would be asking for the model at the end (or any stage) of the project. There is no signed Employers Information, no signed BIM Execution Plan etc or anything from our end saying we would be providing a Revit Model, as we were just doing it for ourselves as we could see the benefit for this particular project. Now the client is asking if we can share the model with them as we come up to submit our planning application.

Is there any advice anybody could give in this situation? Do we share the model without blinking an eye, or should we be more guarded in our approach to doing so? Is there any safeguards/stipulations we can put in place to protect our intellectual property, or protect ourselves going forward?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

[RobDraw · Accepted solution]

One of Revit's greatest assets is to be able easily coordinate between trades. If you don't want to aid in that process, don't share your model.

Safeguarding intellectual property is a legal/contractual issue and can be very subjective. In an ideal world, this shouldn't be an issue. If you don't trust your clients, that is not a Revit issue.

[Tom_Kunsman · Accepted solution]

depends. is this client of your an established one that your firm does a lot of work with? is it a new client that you hope to do more work with?

what IP are you protecting? your design?

all of the above and some of the concerns that you raised are all something that you and your firm need to discuss. Sure going forward it would be best if there was a BIM execution plan in place. If your firm has some sort of liability insurance I would talk with them to see what guidance they can offer. 

what will your client be doing with the model? are they using it just for their records or will they be maintaining it as well based on "as built" conditions?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

My view is that you should refer to the contract between you and them - this should stipulate what your obligations are and what you should be providing.

Typically, if the client wants the model, this is an additional service, and it would incur an extra cost.  They may want it for their facilities management.  I would be wary of supplying them with the model, as it was more than likely not modelled for this purpose.  The model was prepared for producing a planning application, and possibly for tender/construction.  There could be many errors in the model that were hidden for the proposed purpose (planning application).  You will potentially be liable for those inaccuracies.  If the client wants a copy of the model they should be prepared to pay an additional fee, as additional work will be required to ensure that the model is clean and correct.

[jwallace2T8CK · Accepted solution]

Hi Folks, 

Thanks for the great replies. All the issues raised were things we were discussing in-house so its good that we were thinking along these tracks ourselves. We will be discussing this further and even the idea of setting up a 360 account where the client can view the model but not download it or change it.

[Anonymous]

Of course, it would be ideal if the model is used by the client, and this is an additional service that architects can offer.  It's what BIMs about.  However, this needs to be agreed at the outset, or an additional model could be supplied for the purpose, without all of the information that is required for tender or construction.

[jwallace2T8CK]

Is there a standard "release" form out there for the purposes of sharing a model and that conditions its use only for x,y, z?

[Anonymous]

I think it will be different for each country.  I'm assuming that you're in the UK, s the RIBA website may have a standard form for model sharing.

[a_meteni]

AIA Standard forms relevant to this purpose are:

E203-2013 Building Information Modeling and Digital Data Exhibit.

G201-2013 Project Digital Data Protocol.

[hmunsell]

i have gotten our engineers and architects to ask these questions during negotiations, but we still have this issue come up occasionally. the general rule is if it is if we are not contractually obligated to provide the model, we don't.  

that said.... depending on your relationship with he client and how badly you want to keep doing work for them there are things that can be done. you can use eTransmit for Revit and strip out everything but the "model" and deliver only the model content (no sheets, details, legends, schedules, etc). if you are concerned  about your model being used for other purposes, make a NWD/NWC and sent it to them. they will have all the information they would need for slash detection and coordination, but not be able to change anything.

[Anonymous]

I've used the a website 3dpackages.com to share my revit model, they cannot download and markup is possible. You will need to setup a forge account, but it was not difficult to do.

[crystal.nupsonS8SQU]

What is a NWD and NWC?

[hmunsell]

• an NWD is a merged version of the NWF file with all the appended links
  • typically these are given to contractors or clients as a deliverable.
• an NWC is a Cashed version of the Revit model.
  • if RVT's are appended into an NWF, it creates a NWC to speed up the loading. NWC's will get updated as the NWF, with RVT links, is opened.
    • if the RVT links have not changed the NWC is used and loads quicker. 
    • if the RVT link has had changes the NWC will get updated.

[a_meteni]

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@a_meteni wrote:

AIA Standard forms relevant to this purpose are:

E203-2013

G201-2013

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Just to update my previous post : AIA has released revised set of digital practice documents

https://www.aiacontracts.org/contract-doc-pages/27086-digital-practice-documents