As consortium leader, adesso will head up the BIMcontracts collaborative project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (duration of three years). In collaboration with business and research partners, adesso is developing a reference architecture for payment processes in the construction industry in the BIMcontracts research project: the aim is to develop and test automated and transparent contract and invoice management on the basis of digital building information modelling (BIM) and modern blockchain technology in connection with the concepts of smart contracts.
In no other industry in Germany is the time between provision of the service and payment – the “outstanding payment period” – as long as it is in the con-struction industry. Many companies often work together on a division of labour basis, which leads to a complex combination of contracts. Disruptions in individual processes often result in delays throughout the entire payment chain. This represents a high liquidity and insolvency risk in the sector for small and medium-sized service providers and companies in particular.
The BIMcontracts solution envisaged by adesso and partners aims to remedy this: it will support payment processes with an end-to-end IT infrastructure with integrated mobile applications, for example with on-site apps for final inspections.