Should building owners have independent BIM representatives on their projects?

A sister question to the: “... Prescriptive/Specification-based BIM...” one.

I do advocate for building owners to employ independent BIM advisors.

If this became standard practice, it’d do a lot of good to AEC.

Would call an end to bluffing and document stuffing that is going on now.

Keep everyone on their toes, making sure that they concentrate on what matters, stay alert and ready to respond. It would raise the productivity too.

This concept is not new (roles of clerks-of-works fall in here, so do in house design and project managers’) and it does not necessary need BIM.

However, BIM makes it more affordable than the alternatives.

Some countries are more litigious than others; some people get more involved with the law than others. Most of us have a basic-idea on how things work in the legal field.

The basic concept of the right-to-access-representation no matter what side of the law you end up at – is known to even very young children. You may choose not to claim that right or end up with shoddy representation but the ability to counter-balance influencers in the process is a must.

Self regulation in AEC is just not working. Owners should not accept blank recommendation from parties that are already involved under different roles.

Owners would be much better off with independent, BIM literate advisors on their side.