Contract documents

In July 2022, we released new BIM and digital delivery documents to replace the 2013 BIM documents. The 2022 documents streamline the documentation process and reflect current practices. This page summarizes the changes and provides you links to find out more.

How do the new documents work?

The new documents have three, interrelated parts:

• an Exhibit, which sets forth the parties’ agreement on a few critical “big ticket” items, such as the extent of model sharing across the project, permitted model uses, and confidentiality and intellectual property issues;
• the BIM Execution Plan, which allows parties to document the more granular decisions related to model sharing, such as how models will be named and saved, when and how model files will be updated/uploaded, software requirements, data security measures, and modeling protocols; and
• the Model Element Table, which follows a CSI UniFormat™ structure and allows Model Authors to document the Levels of Development (LOD) of their Model Elements which allows other Project Participants to determine an appropriate amount of reliance on those elements.

The new documents offer greater flexibility to align with your project needs. They include:

• 4 choices of Exhibit to reflect how models will be shared and what is included in a contract;
• a single BIM Execution Plan intended to stimulate conversations and document decisions surrounding how the Project Participants will utilize BIM on their Project; and
• 2 choices of Model Element Table – complete and abbreviated – to reflect the complexity and needs of your project.

A Digital Data Licensing Agreement (C106-2022) can be used for parties who otherwise have no existing licensing agreement relating to the use and transmission of Digital Data.

Exhibits

E201-2022 BIM Exhibit for Sharing Models with Project Participants, Where Model Versions May be Enumerated as a Contract Document

The new E201-2022 gives Project Participants the ability to explicitly permit or prohibit certain Model Versions to be enumerated as Contract Documents. The same E201-2022 is attached to all of the contracts throughout the Project, as a result all Project Participants are aligned in their understanding as to the extent of reliance on particular Model Versions. This unified understanding allows Model Authors to structure their modeling services and fees accordingly.

E202-2022 BIM Exhibit for Sharing Models with Project Participants, Where Model Versions May Not be Enumerated as a Contract Document

The E202-2022 is intended to be used when Models will be shared among all Project Participants, but E202-2022 does not permit Model Versions to be enumerated as a Contract Document. Many of the other terms of E202-2022 are similar to E201-2022.

E401-2022 BIM Exhibit for Sharing Model Solely Within the Design Team

Unlike E201-2022 and E202-2022, E401-2022 is intended to be used when Models will be shared solely within the Design Team, which is defined as “the Architect, its Consultants, Subconsultants, and Sub-subconsultants, at any tier.” In this regard, E401-2022 anticipates a more “siloed” approach to Modeling, where the Design Team creates and distributes Models within the Design Team only, and those Models are not intended to be shared with the Owner or any member of the Construction Team.

E402-2022 BIM Exhibit for Sharing Model Solely Within the Construction Team

Similar to the E401-2022, the E402-2022 anticipates a more “siloed” approach to Modeling. Specifically, the E402-2022 is intended to be used when Models will be shared solely within the Construction Team, which is defined as “the Contractor, its Subcontractors, and Sub-subcontractors, including fabricators, at any tier.” When using the E402-2022, the Construction Team can share Models within the Construction Team only, and those Models are not intended to be shared with the Owner or any member of the Design Team.

BIM Execution Plan

G203-2022 BIM Execution Plan

G203-2022 contains multiple fill points and is intended to stimulate conversations and document decisions surrounding how the Project Participants will utilize BIM on their Project. All of the BIM exhibits contain language requiring the Parties to adhere to their BIM Execution Plan. Acting in a similar manner to a Project schedule, although the BIM Execution Plan is not intended to be a contract exhibit, Parties are contractually obligated to adhere to its terms.

Model Element Table

G204-2022 Model Element Table

Using Levels of Development (LOD) designations, Model Authors can convey the specificity and exactness of their Model Elements and, in turn, other Project Participants with access to the Model can determine an appropriate amount of reliance on those elements. In this regard, G204-2022 provides Project Participants with a table in which they can designate LODs for various Model Elements at different Project milestones.

G205-2022 Abbreviated Model Element Table

The AIA Contract Documents Program received valuable feedback related to its 2013 documents that, while the Model Element Table contained therein was critical, it was occasionally burdensome to complete and sometimes created a hurdle to proper completion of the entire document set. As a result, the AIA Contract Documents Program created G205-2022, a Model Element Table that is abbreviated. The G205-2022 can facilitate the use of a Model Element Table by Project Participants who might otherwise not be familiar with Model Element Tables.

Digital Data Licensing Agreement

C106-2022 Digital Data Licensing Agreement

C106-2022 is similar to C106-2013, with some minor modifications.

Find out more

The 2022 Digital Documents Guide (free download) is an in-depth description of our new BIM documents.  If you have general questions about the BIM and our document development process, we recommend our BIM article series:

Part 1: How BIM Exhibits Manage Risk

Part 2: The Knowledge Divide

Part 3: An Introduction to the New 2022 BIM Documents

Part 4: BIM as a Contract Document – Can it be Done?

Part 5: New Terms in the 2022 BIM Documents