Implementation walkthrough
How to implement ISO 19650: video walkthrough
A walkthrough of making the ISO 19650-2 information management process real on your appointments, as client, lead appointed party or task team.
Key takeaways
- ISO 19650 manages information about buildings and civil works, including BIM.
- Roles are appointing party, lead appointed party and task team.
- Information requirements and delivery milestones are set at the start.
- Information flows through a common data environment.
- Certification against ISO 19650-2 is process certification under a body's scheme.
Information management across the life of an asset
ISO 19650 is the international series for the organisation and digitisation of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling. It sets out how information about a built asset is specified, produced, checked, shared, accepted and kept, so that everyone who designs, builds, operates or maintains the asset works from information that is current, approved and fit for purpose. It applies to every type of asset and organisation, whatever the procurement route.
ISO 19650-1 sets out the concepts and principles, such as information requirements, the information models that answer them and the common data environment; ISO 19650-2 sets the process during the delivery phase. This short film walks through how that process is implemented.
Making the process real on appointments
Decide what the certificate must cover: the organisation's role or roles as appointing party, lead appointed party or task team, the offices and the appointments in scope. A gap analysis then tests current practice against the activities of ISO 19650-2, task by task.
Implementation works through those activities. The appointing party appoints people to the information management function and establishes the project's information requirements, information delivery milestones, information standard, production methods and procedures and the common data environment. Exchange information requirements go into tenders, appointed parties respond with their capability and plans, and information is produced, checked, shared, reviewed and accepted through the common data environment before project close-out. The concepts of organisational, asset, project and exchange information requirements, and of the project and asset information models, tie the work together. Templates and CDE workflows make the process repeatable, and internal audit tests it before an independent certification body assesses it against ISO 19650-2 under its scheme and decides.
Sterling's expert and experienced consultants build the process, templates and CDE workflow with your team under Sterling OS™. Certification against ISO 19650-2 is process certification under a body's scheme, accredited under ISO/IEC 17065 for some bodies, not management system certification.
ISO 19650 at a glance
- Purpose
- Information management across the life of buildings and civil engineering works: who needs which information, when and in what form, and how it is produced, checked, shared, accepted and kept
- Relevant to
- Clients and asset owners, and the architects, engineers, contractors and specialists they appoint, for any asset, organisation size or procurement route
- Edition
- ISO 19650-1:2018 and ISO 19650-2:2018, with Parts 3 to 6; revisions of Parts 1 to 3 are drafts, not yet published
- Certification
- Process certification against ISO 19650-2 under a certification body's scheme, accredited under ISO/IEC 17065 for some bodies; not ISO/IEC 17021-1 management-system certification
- Sterling's role
- Process, templates and CDE workflow built with your team, Effivity, training, internal audit and certification readiness, then Sustain™
- Cost and timing
- Total investment for ISO 19650 information management depends on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees. The process typically takes 4 to 9 months
ISO 19650: questions people ask
Is ISO 19650 the same as BIM Level 2?
Not quite. ISO 19650-1 and ISO 19650-2 evolved from the UK's BS 1192 and PAS 1192-2, part of the approach the UK called BIM Level 2 and required on government-funded projects from April 2016. The ISO series does not use the term. If a client still asks for BIM Level 2, confirm whether ISO 19650 working meets the requirement.
Can a small practice or subcontractor get ISO 19650 certified?
Yes. ISO 19650-2 can be applied by organisations of all types and sizes, whatever the asset or procurement route, and "shall consider" lets the process be scaled. A small task team needs clear responsibilities, a working information standard and a disciplined CDE, not a thick manual.
Is ISO 19650 certification mandatory?
No law makes certification compulsory in general, but clients and policies can make the process a condition of work, as the UK Construction Playbook and Dubai Municipality's BIM requirement show. A certificate is one way to show that your process meets ISO 19650-2; check whether your client wants a certificate or evidence of the process.
Is ISO 19650 a management system standard?
No. ISO 19650-2 specifies requirements for information management in the form of a management process, but not on the harmonised structure of ISO 9001 or ISO/IEC 27001. Where its certification is accredited, as in the UKAS-accredited schemes of BSI, BRE and LRQA, it is process certification under ISO/IEC 17065. Some bodies also offer verification or certification under their own schemes, with or without accreditation; ask which you are offered.
Which part of ISO 19650 should we be certified to?
For designers, engineers and contractors, ISO 19650-2, the delivery phase; some certificates cite ISO 19650-1 alongside it, but Part 1 on its own gives concepts and recommendations rather than requirements. Organisations handling sensitive assets can add ISO 19650-5, for which BSI, for example, runs a security Kitemark; asset owners and operators should ask their certification body about ISO 19650-3.
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