ISO 19650 requirements explained: video brief

Concepts from ISO 19650-1

ISO 19650-2 sets out its requirements as eight activities in clause 5, each broken into tasks for the appointing party, the lead appointed party or the task teams, and uses shall consider widely so the process can be proportionate to the appointment. Its concepts come from ISO 19650-1. This short film walks through both.

The concepts start with information requirements at four levels: organisational information requirements, asset information requirements, project information requirements and exchange information requirements. The project information model and the asset information model are the information that answers them, during delivery and in operation. The common data environment is the agreed source of information through which it is produced, shared, checked and accepted.

The activities of ISO 19650-2

The first activity, assessment and need, has the appointing party appoint people to the information management function and establish the project's information requirements, information delivery milestones, information standard, production methods and procedures, reference information and the common data environment. The activities that follow cover the invitation to tender, the tender response, appointment, mobilisation, the collaborative production of information, delivery of the information model, and project close-out, with tasks assigned to the right party at each stage.

The series also includes Parts 3 to 6, covering the operational phase of assets, information exchange, security-minded information management and health and safety information. ISO 19650-1:2018 and ISO 19650-2:2018 are the current editions of the first two parts. Certification against ISO 19650-2 is process certification under a certification body's scheme, accredited under ISO/IEC 17065 for some bodies, not management system certification.

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, although the ISO series does not use the term. The standard names no software: it describes the common data environment as a solution and a workflow, in which information containers move through work in progress, shared, published and archive states, with checks and approvals at each transition. ISO 19650-2 can be applied by organisations of every type and size, so a small practice or subcontractor needs clear responsibilities, a working information standard and a disciplined process rather than a large manual.