Last edited 08 Jul 2016

Model production and delivery table MPDT

Building information modelling (BIM) is a very broad term that describes the process of creating and managing digital information about a built asset.

The model production and delivery table (MPDT) is an appendix to the Construction Industry Council's CIC BIM protocol. The CIC BIM protocol can be adopted on projects that use BIM to define specific obligations and liabilities, and to set out limitations placed on the agreed use of the model. It is incorporated into contractual documents by the inclusion of a model enabling amendment.

Building information models are generally made up of a number of different component models that may be produced by different consultants, contractors or suppliers. The model production and delivery table identifies the originator for each model and the level of detail it should have reached at different stages of the project. Typically these stages are aligned with key employer's decision points, at which defined information is exchanged with the employer (sometimes referred to as data drops or information exchanges).

The model production and delivery table should be aligned to the project programme and to the scope of services for each appointment. The protocol states that '…Ideally the Models included in the MPDT will have been identified in schedules to the Employer's Information Requirements.'

A specimen model production and delivery table is included in Appendix 1 to the CIC BIM protocol, and this is also available on the BIM Task Group website as a separate, editable download in excel format. The specimen describes 29 component models and 6 data drops, broadly aligned to the APM stage definitions and the level of detail definitions set out in PAS 1192.

The protocol suggests that '…the parties may choose any other appropriate format', and the model production and delivery table can be adapted to use other definitions of level of detail or other project stages. However, the same MPDT should be appended to all agreements.

The CIC BIM protocol makes clear that the model production and delivery table is a contractual document and so must be prepared with care. Only models scheduled in the MPDT are subject to the protocol. Project team members are obliged to deliver models for which they are identified as the 'model originator'. The employer is obliged to ensure that the MPDT is reviewed and updated at each stage, and variations to the MPDT should be subject to the change management procedures.