Pestel: Law
The newest wave of changes in the
procurement of constructions services involves public private partnerships
(PPP) and building information modelling (BIM). If these procedures achieve
their potential, they will have a dramatic effect on the construction industry
as a whole, as well as the construction lawyer's practice.
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PPP: In a typical PPP, the private sector
develops, finances, designs, constructs, operates, and maintains infrastructure
that is normally provided by the government in exchange for revenue from the
project. For example, a state may give a private venture the right to construct
a toll road in exchange for the venture's right to collect tolls for a
specified number of years. PPPs are far more common outside of the United
States. Domestically, they have been used sparingly. However, with tight public
budgets and politicians' reluctance to raise taxes, governments are likely to
turn more and more to PPPs to solve their problems.
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BIM: The most basic application of BIM, and its
primary use at this time, is a three-dimensional computerised view of the
structure and the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) components and
equipment.
This will allow
designers and contractors to find conflicts and other problems before
construction begins and to do more prefabrication in the plant rather than fit
the MEP into the space in the field, and resolve conflicts when they occur. While
this is a major advancement, BIM is or will be capable of far more. If the
designer or owner wants to consider a change, such as reducing the size of a
beam, it will be able to enter the information for the change, and the computer
model will redesign the structure.
Construction law is a relatively new practice area that is
still expanding. The construction lawyer's practice is evolving rapidly as a
result of changes in the construction industry, including new project delivery
methods, construction defect litigation, new dispute resolution techniques, new
ethical standards, and globalisation of the construction industry.
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