Introduction
A construction business can have rights to its project files without owning the software used to create them. Licence, development and hosting terms need to be reviewed together.
Check the actual deployment
Compare licence terms with employees, consultants, subcontractors, environments and integrations using the system. Identify third-party and open-source components. Do not assume a company subscription permits every external project participant to use it.
Software procurement often involves several documents: an order form, online terms, a hosting agreement, a development scope and support conditions. Read them together and establish which document prevails if terms conflict. Identify the licensed entity and the people who will actually use the system. A group company, joint venture, outside designer or subcontractor may not be covered by the purchaser's subscription. Compare the proposed deployment with the licence metric, including named users, environments, integrations and any restrictions on automated access. Keep the agreed version of the terms rather than relying solely on a changing website.
Plan customisations and continuity
Agree rights in custom code, connectors and models. Define access to data, export formats, support, security and handover after termination. Contractual data-use rights must also respect applicable privacy and confidentiality duties.
Custom development needs a clear deliverables schedule. Identify the source code, configuration, documentation, interfaces and testing results to be supplied. Distinguish bespoke work from vendor tools and third-party components, and agree the rights required for maintenance or further development. If open-source software is included, ask which licences apply and how the supplier will meet the relevant obligations. A promise that the client owns everything may be misleading where the solution depends on components the supplier can only license. Record the practical rights the business needs to operate and support the system.
Review the software arrangement as a whole
Data arrangements should cover more than a general ownership statement. Specify who may access project information, for what purposes, where it is hosted and how it can be exported. Consider personal data, confidential designs and information belonging to other project participants. Agree security responsibilities and an incident communication process appropriate to the service. Ask whether the supplier can use customer data for product development, analytics or AI training, and review any permission carefully. The contract should distinguish the customer's project records from the provider's software and service telemetry rather than combining them under one undefined term.
Test the exit provisions before the system becomes indispensable. Ask what happens if the subscription ends, invoices are disputed or the provider stops supporting the product. Identify export formats, retrieval periods, migration assistance and any continuing access needed for records. For BIM environments, check whether models remain usable without a live subscription and what rights replacement consultants receive. For ERP customisations, establish whether another supplier can lawfully maintain the code. An operational exit plan can expose gaps that are not obvious in the sales demonstration and give the parties a chance to resolve them before deployment.
Service changes should follow an approval process rather than informal acceptance by an individual user. A new integration, AI feature or hosting location can introduce terms that the original procurement review did not consider. Identify who is authorised to accept changes and where the agreed documents are stored. Keep technical administrators informed about contractual limits and give the commercial team notice of operational dependencies. This coordination helps prevent an avoidable licence problem, such as allowing external access or reusing a module in another entity without first checking the terms that govern the deployment.
Practical checklist
- Authorised users and deployment scope
- Custom-code and third-party terms
- Export formats and handover support
- Renewal, suspension and exit provisions
Related reading
- Licensing Intellectual Property in Joint Ventures: Avoiding Legal Pitfalls in Bahrain
- Intellectual Property Risks in Smart Cities and PropTech Innovations in Bahrain
- Drafting Strong IP Clauses in Construction and Subcontractor Agreements in Bahrain
Conclusion
A software review should test whether the project can operate today and retrieve what it needs tomorrow.
For a review of the rights, permissions or agreements relevant to your matter, explore our intellectual property expertise and technology and cybersecurity legal support.
Contact Manal Dhahi Legal Group to discuss your circumstances. The appropriate next step depends on the documents and facts of the matter.
Frequently asked questions
Check the development contract and underlying licences. Payment alone does not answer the ownership question.
Only if the relevant terms allow it. Check named-user restrictions, external access and security controls.
Confirm export formats, retrieval access, migration support, retained records and rights to maintain custom work. Review any suspension, termination and third-party licence conditions before the transition.