X10: Information Modelling

NEC X10 is the NEC4 Option for information modelling, or BIM. It obliges the Contractor to work to an accepted Information Execution Plan and to provide Project Information for a shared Information Model, with its own rules on collaboration, ownership, liability and insurance.

X10 is an NEC4 Option, available in the ECC, subcontracts, professional service and term contracts. Be careful with the number across editions: in the NEC3 Professional Service Contract, X10 means "Employer's Agent", which has nothing to do with BIM, and the NEC3 ECC has no X10 at all. NEC3 jobs dealt with BIM through the Works Information or additional conditions. The secondary Options guide lists each number by edition.

The defined terms

Term	Meaning in plain English
Information Model Requirements	What the Client wants from the model; found in the Scope
Information Execution Plan	How the Contractor will meet those requirements; the latest accepted version replaces earlier ones
Project Information	What the Contractor itself provides to create or change the model
Information Model	The integrated electronic whole, including input from the Client and others
Information Providers	Those contributing to the model, named in the Requirements

How X10 runs on a job

1. Before tender: the Client writes the Information Model Requirements and names the Information Providers.
2. The plan: if no plan is identified in the Contract Data, the Contractor sends its first Information Execution Plan for acceptance within the stated period, under X10.4. Revised plans follow when instructed, or when the Contractor chooses.
3. Delivery: the Contractor provides Project Information in the required form and in line with the accepted plan.
4. Early warning: X10 adds a duty to warn of anything that could harm the creation or use of the model.
5. Change: if a compensation event alters the plan, the alterations go into the quotation.

In the NEC4 subcontract text, acceptance has a two-week reply period and the plan is treated as accepted if a further week passes after the Subcontractor flags a missed reply. That treated acceptance rule is worth knowing, so check the equivalent in your own ECC.

Liability and ownership

These are the clauses to read with most care. In the NEC4 subcontract text:

• Unless the Requirements say otherwise, ownership of both the Information Model and the rights in the Contractor's Project Information sits with the Client. Rights have to be obtained from the supply chain too.
• Faults in the overall model, or in others' information, are the Client's liability, unless they're a Defect in the Contractor's own Project Information.
• The Contractor is liable for faults in its Project Information only if it fell below the standard of a competent professional doing similar information work.
• The Contractor insures that liability for the amount and period in the Contract Data.

So X10 sets a professional standard for information, even on a contract where the Contractor's other design work carries a stricter standard. That's a real difference from a Contractor's position under the core clauses without Option X15.

A short example

A fictional hospital scheme. The Requirements call for geometry and asset data in a stated format for each ward. The Contractor's plan shows data drops at each stage. In month nine, the Project Manager changes a plant room layout by instruction, a compensation event under 60.1(1). The Contractor's quotation includes the cost of remodelling and a revised data drop, along with an updated plan. Later, a clash arises because the Client's architect uploaded an out-of-date model. That fault isn't a Defect in the Contractor's Project Information, so the cost isn't the Contractor's to bear.

Common mistakes

• Thin Requirements. "Provide a BIM model" gives the Contractor nothing to measure against. Define the formats, level of information and handover.
• Treating the plan as a formality. It's contractual once accepted, and work done outside it can cause problems.
• Missing the insurance. X10 needs its own entries in the Contract Data. Check that your cover responds to information risk.
• Ignoring X9 overlap. Read X10's ownership rules alongside Option X9 so the Scope doesn't say two different things.

Related guides

• NEC Secondary Options: X, Y, W and Z Clauses Explained
• X11: Termination by the Client
• X12: Multiparty Collaboration
• X13: Performance Bond
• X8: Undertakings to the Client or Others
• X9: Transfer of Rights

This guide is general information in our own words, not legal advice. Your contract and its Contract Data always govern. NEC, NEC3 and NEC4 are trade marks of Thomas Telford Ltd; Contract Status is not affiliated with or endorsed by NEC.