A preliminary review of building information modeling (BIM) legal issues

As Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) expands globally, international competition rises, thus, requiring the industry to be steadfast in its efforts to be at par with other international players within the nation. To overcome this, it is with the view that the help of technological digitalisation in construction is deemed significant throughout a project‟s cradle-to-cradle lifecycle. Building Information Modelling (BIM) in its application has been widespread within the construction scene. The technological adoption, nonetheless, brought about challenges to the present method of the construction process. In addition, organisations face difficulties in embracing the innovative revolution of digitalisation due to the present legalese which was made for conventional construction processes. Existing contractual solutions do not identify facilitation towards BIM‟s specific roles, processes and outcomes. Therefore, the paper is aimed to ascertain setbacks particularly legal issues brought about by the usage of BIM within the construction industry worldwide against Malaysia. The paper undergoes an investigation of past publications worldwide through a narrative literature review in uncovering the scepticism and a lack of enthusiasm for its adoption. The study found eleven variables within four main themes on contractual issues surrounding BIM. The identification of these issues, hence, would further assist in the contractual status of BIM within the industry.