Enjeux de responsabilité face à la donnée numérique dans le contexte du BIM et du PLM

Abstract

In recent decades, digital tools and data have become increasingly important within industrial activities, whether they relate to the development of aeronautical products, supported by PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), or construction works, supported by BIM (Building Information Modeling). Taking responsibility for digital data raises issues that may limit the deployment of new processes based on these tools and digital data. This research project offers an exploratory study in order to identify the concerns related to taking responsibility for the digital model (3D) and its use, within a large organization in the construction industry in Quebec. The objective of this project is to explore the different elements that can influence the challenges of taking responsibilities for the digital model. Liability issues were explored according to two aspects : legal/contractual liability and professional liability. The research methodology used is exploratory research, which makes it possible to portray and clarify the nature of the concerns through interviews and deductive and inductive analyses of the verbatim generated from it. The first and second interview phases consisted of seven interviews each. A typical interview carried out over a period of 45 to 80 minutes each. Following this first series of interviews, the responsibility issues were grouped into eight categories: laws in Quebec, identification of the responsible person, distribution risk, ambiguous distribution of roles and responsibilities, understanding the entire content of 3D model , difference between disciplines, digital model signature and trust in the modeller. Then, one of them was deepened during the second series of seven interviews: understanding the entire content of a digital model compared to the traditional 2D drawing medium. Following the in-depth analysis, six categories of issues were identified : involvement in the preparation of the digital model, representation conventions, multiple interpretations, the purpose of the document, the digital model in relation to the reality on the ground, the challenge of understanding the entire content and the non-alterability of the 3D model. Finally, the findings made through these two series of interviews were submitted to experts in the aeronautical field in order to verify whether these findings find resonance, or not, in their environment. By comparing the two environments, it was observed that the aeronautical sector is not more advanced than the construction sector, with regard to the signing of the digital model, and the majority of the challenges experienced are similar in the two environments. Thus, it is not clear that taking responsibility for the entire digital model is currently achievable.

Date	3 Jun 2020
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	James Lapalme (Supervisor), Louis Rivest (Co-supervisor) & Conrad Boton (Co-supervisor)