How to Choose an Extended BIM Team: The U.S. Procurement Checklist for MSA, NDA, and Insurance

82% of U.S. construction firms reported open salaried positions in mid-2026, according to the AGC and NCCER 2026 Workforce Survey. Hiring gaps like that are a big reason contractors and design firms bring in extended BIM teams. They’re also where many of those partnerships stall in week three, not on the model, but on a certificate of insurance.

The sample is approved and the project starts in 21 days. Then legal asks which entity signs the MSA, risk wants proof of professional liability coverage, accounts payable needs a tax form, and the owner’s diversity report needs a certificate someone can verify.

That’s the part of how to choose an extended BIM team that most checklists skip. The partners worth hiring clear it quickly, in a fixed order: an NDA before files move, an MSA for standing terms, an SOW for each scope, current insurance certificates, the right IRS form, verifiable diversity certifications, and a clear line on who carries design liability.

This article covers that procurement stage. For the capability side, such as comparable experience, BEP alignment, and model quality, start with our guide on how to choose a BIM outsourcing partner.

How to choose an extended BIM team: what paperwork do you need first?

Most U.S. firms need seven items before an extended BIM team touches live project files. Here they are in the order that keeps work moving.

CTA: Want to see the work before the paperwork? Send us a sample scope, and we’ll turn around a small piece of work to your standards, so procurement only starts once you’re sure about quality.

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Why sign the NDA before anything else?

Sign a mutual NDA before you send a single native file. During evaluation, you’ll share Revit templates, families, project models, and sometimes owner data. Those assets are often worth more than the pilot scope itself.

A good NDA for BIM work names the things you actually share: native models, point clouds, office standards, content libraries, and client information. It should also say what happens to those files when the evaluation ends. A partner that already works inside client environments under NDA and returns every file at the end won’t push back on any of this.

For deeper controls such as CDE access, offboarding, and incident response, our BIM data security checklist for extended teams goes further.

How should an MSA and SOW be split for an extended BIM team?

Put the terms that never change in the MSA, and the terms that change every project in the SOW. That split is what lets you add a second or third project in days instead of restarting legal review.

The MSA usually holds:

• Confidentiality and data handling: This builds on the NDA and covers the full engagement.
• Ownership and reuse of deliverables: Spell out who owns models, families, and templates built for you.
• Payment terms and invoicing: This includes currency and how milestones are approved.
• Liability limits and indemnities: Draft these with your counsel and insurance broker.
• Termination and transition: Say how files and work in progress come back if you part ways.

Each SOW usually includes:

• Deliverables: Specify models, sheets, and reports at a defined LOD.
• Schedule: Include milestones and review rounds.
• Inputs: List your templates, BEP, and the model versions the team will work from.
• Acceptance criteria: Define what “complete” means before review starts.
• Commercial model: State whether the work is fixed scope, time and materials, or a dedicated team.

If the work involves sharing digital data with a party you have no other agreement with, AIA’s C106-2022 Digital Data Licensing Agreement was written for that situation. For the BIM-specific clauses to settle in either document, see our guide to BIM contract clauses for U.S. projects. Treat all of this as a checklist for your counsel, not legal advice.

What insurance should a BIM partner carry?

Ask for certificates of insurance showing at least general liability and professional liability, and add cyber coverage if the team will work inside your systems or hold sensitive data. Your contract and your broker set the limits; the certificate proves the policy exists and is current.

Each type covers something different:

• General liability: The U.S. Small Business Administration describes it as protection against bodily injury, property damage, and related claims. It matters less for remote production work, but many client contracts still require it.
• Professional liability (errors and omissions): The SBA describes this as coverage for losses from “errors and negligence” in professional work. For a BIM partner, it’s the coverage most closely tied to the quality of the deliverables.
• Cyber liability: The FTC explains that cyber policies can include first-party coverage for your own data and third-party coverage for claims brought against you after a breach. Ask about it whenever a partner will have access to your CDE.

Check the dates, the named insured, and whether the certificate matches the legal entity you’re contracting with. Ask your broker whether you need to be named as an additional insured.

Which tax form do you need from the BIM partner?

The form depends on the legal entity you contract with. A U.S. entity provides IRS Form W-9, which gives you its taxpayer identification number for information reporting. A foreign entity provides Form W-8BEN-E, which the IRS says foreign entities use “to document their status.”

Many extended BIM teams have a U.S. company and an overseas delivery studio. Confirm which entity signs the MSA, which one invoices, and which form matches it. Your accounts payable team and tax adviser should make the final call.

CTA: Running a supplier prequalification for an upcoming award? In a Discovery Session, we’ll walk through your scope, your prequalification requirements, and the documents your legal, risk, and accounts payable teams need from us.

Button: Plan Your BIM Partner Prequalification

How do you verify supplier diversity certifications?

Don’t rely on a logo on a website. Check the certifier’s own directory, because these certifications expire and must be renewed.

• WBENC: Certification for women-owned businesses requires at least 51% ownership by a woman, and WBENC says it’s valid for one year and must be renewed. Corporate buyers can confirm status in WBENCLink2.0.
• NMSDC: Corporate members can confirm minority supplier status through NMSDC’s CHECK-MATE service, which returns certification details and expiration dates.
• Port Authority of NY & NJ: Certified M/WBE firms can be found in the Port Authority’s certified directory search.

This matters when your owner or public client sets participation goals. Excelize is NMSDC certified, WBENC certified, and MWBE certified by the Port Authority of NY & NJ. Confirm with your owner which certifications count toward the project’s goals.

Who carries design liability when an extended team models the work?

Your engineer or architect of record keeps design authority. An extended BIM team models, coordinates, and documents to their intent. It shouldn’t seal drawings or take on design responsibility it can’t hold.

Make this boundary explicit in the MSA and in each SOW. On engineering support work, Excelize prepares calculations to recognized standards for the licensed engineer of record to review, seal, and stamp, and never takes on engineering liability. A partner that blurs this line creates a gap your insurance program may not cover.

How Excelize handles the procurement stage

We know procurement is often where an extended team proves it’s ready for U.S. work, so we try to make it short:

• Qualification-ready: Insurance certificates, MSA terms, and process references are available as part of your qualification process.
• Secure by default: We work inside your CDE under NDA, and every model, family, and template we build is delivered to you.
• A defined start: Every engagement begins with a defined scope, a named point of contact, and a documented BIM Execution Plan.
• A consistent delivery standard: Every engagement includes a client QA round with senior engineer sign-off, a walkthrough call at handover, and a 30-day post-delivery support window.
• Flexible structure: Per-Project, Time & Materials, or a Dedicated Studio, with teams scaling within 48 hours of kickoff. The Dedicated Studio can also run as our Onshore + Offshore Team Model, with an on-site BIM project manager working inside your team’s hours.

Our leadership and account management sit in New Jersey and California, and production runs through our BIM delivery studio in India. See how this works day to day on our page for BIM support for general contractors.

Frequently asked questions