A Comparative Study of Smart Building Information Modeling Contracts and Conventional Contracts in the Construction Industry: A Practical Guide with Coding Examples

This paper aims to compare conventional contracts and smart contracts in the construction industry, and to explore the potential benefits and challenges of using BIM smart contracts for construction project management. The paper adopts a mixed-methods approach, consisting of a literature review, a web search, and a coding analysis. The paper finds that smart contracts can offer significant advantages over conventional contracts in terms of automation, transparency, security, and efficiency and that BIM smart contracts can leverage the data and parameters of the BIM model to automate and authenticate the performance of contractual obligations. The paper also identifies and compares the different types and features of smart contracts, such as BIM smart contracts, dynamic NFTs, and time-locked contracts, and analyzes their legal status and challenges in different countries. The paper concludes that BIM smart contracts have great potential to improve construction contract management and project performance, but also face some technical, legal, and social barriers that need to be addressed. The paper suggests some directions for future research and practice based on the findings and limitations of the study.

Keywords:

BIM smart contracts , construction industry , contract management , blockchain technology , legal issues