It can be proved that for a BIBD to exist its parameters must satisfy the conditions $rv=bk$, $\lambda(v-1)=r(k-1)$ and $b >= v$, but these are not sufficient conditions. Constructive methods can be used to design BIBDs of special forms but BIBD generation is challenging as a CSP. One source of intractability is the large number of symmetries: given any solution, any two rows or columns may be exchanged to obtain another solution. The number of solutions ranges from $0$ to over $10^{200}$. Most interestingly, there are several instances whose status (solvable or unsolvable) is currently unknown. Here are the open problems (with $vb <= 10000$) listed by Colbourn and Dinitz:
$v$ | $b$ | $r$ | $k$ | $\lambda$ |
46 | 69 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
51 | 85 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
61 | 122 | 12 | 6 | 1 |
22 | 33 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
40 | 52 | 13 | 10 | 3 |
46 | 69 | 15 | 10 | 3 |
65 | 80 | 16 | 13 | 3 |
81 | 81 | 16 | 16 | 3 |
49 | 98 | 18 | 9 | 3 |
55 | 99 | 18 | 10 | 3 |
85 | 102 | 18 | 15 | 3 |
39 | 57 | 19 | 13 | 6 |
61 | 122 | 20 | 10 | 3 |
46 | 92 | 20 | 10 | 4 |
45 | 75 | 20 | 12 | 5 |
57 | 76 | 20 | 15 | 5 |
57 | 133 | 21 | 9 | 3 |
40 | 60 | 21 | 14 | 7 |
85 | 105 | 21 | 17 | 4 |
45 | 90 | 22 | 11 | 5 |
45 | 66 | 22 | 15 | 7 |
55 | 132 | 24 | 10 | 4 |
69 | 92 | 24 | 18 | 6 |
51 | 85 | 25 | 15 | 7 |
51 | 75 | 25 | 17 | 8 |
55 | 135 | 27 | 11 | 5 |
55 | 99 | 27 | 15 | 7 |
57 | 84 | 28 | 19 | 9 |
57 | 76 | 28 | 21 | 10 |
85 | 85 | 28 | 28 | 9 |
34 | 85 | 30 | 12 | 10 |
58 | 87 | 30 | 20 | 10 |
56 | 88 | 33 | 21 | 12 |
78 | 117 | 33 | 22 | 9 |
64 | 96 | 33 | 22 | 11 |
97 | 97 | 33 | 33 | 11 |
69 | 102 | 34 | 23 | 11 |
46 | 161 | 35 | 10 | 7 |
51 | 85 | 35 | 21 | 14 |
64 | 80 | 35 | 28 | 15 |
69 | 138 | 36 | 18 | 9 |
52 | 104 | 36 | 18 | 12 |
49 | 84 | 36 | 21 | 15 |
55 | 90 | 36 | 22 | 14 |
70 | 105 | 36 | 24 | 12 |
85 | 85 | 36 | 36 | 15 |
75 | 111 | 37 | 25 | 12 |
58 | 116 | 38 | 19 | 12 |
76 | 114 | 39 | 26 | 13 |
66 | 99 | 39 | 26 | 15 |
57 | 152 | 40 | 15 | 10 |
65 | 104 | 40 | 25 | 15 |