Episode 145:

Hello and Welcome to the Part3 with me podcast. 

The show that helps part 3 students jump-start into their careers as qualified architects and also provides refresher episodes for practising architects. I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week I will be talking about ISO 19650 on Managing Information with Building Information Modelling. Todays episode meets PC4 of the Part 3 Criteria.

I previously covered Building Information Modelling, also known as BIM in episode 66 as a broad overview of what BIM is. Today I will be expanding on the accreditation standard ISO 19650 which is a series of international standards, set by the International Organisation of Standardisation, and is  based on the UK's BIM Level 2 standards, particularly BS 1192 and PAS 1192-2, that helps companies securely manage information over the whole lifecycle of a built asset using building information modelling. The ISO 19650 series enables teams from around the world to minimise wasteful activities and increase predictability around cost and time, through a common approach to the management of information.

It was first published in 2018, marking a significant step towards global standardisation of BIM practices. The transition from national to international standards reflects the increasingly global nature of the construction industry and the need for consistent practices across borders. ISO 19650 also forms part of the UK BIM Framework, which is the overarching approach to implementing BIM in the UK. 

The key principles of ISO19650 consist of:

• The client clearly defining project requirements, standards & milestones and communicates these to the delivery team.
• The delivery team plans a schedule and mobilises resources and technology to meet the client’s requirements, standards & milestones.
• Information is collaboratively produced and managed between task teams (i.e., across disciplines).
• Information is managed in a common data environment (CDE) ensuring the right people work on the right information at the right time.
• Information produced is reviewed and approved at each level (task team, delivery team, project team), with access and sharing controlled accordingly.
• Information is created and archived with the ongoing operation and maintenance of the asset in mind.

Now, appended to the standard are a set of region-specific requirements, providing opportunities to clarify how ISO 19650 should be implemented within that region. The national annex are generally the only standards applicable for use in that region: for example the AS ISO 19650 series is for Australia or BS ISO 19650 series for the UK.

The ISO 19650 series consists of five published documents:

• (ISO 19650-1) Describing concepts and principles, 
• (ISO 19650-2) Presents the information management process for the delivery phase, 
• (ISO 19650-3) Focuses on asset operational phase,
• (ISO 19650-4) Defining the processes and criteria for information exchange and,
• (ISO 19650-5) For addressing security 
• There is also a sixth document for Health and Safety which is currently under development

Now let's look at each document a little closer. ISO 19650-1, as mentioned, is for Describing concepts and principles. Its aim is to remove barriers to the collaborative process, enhances cross-border tendering and reduces risk and cost through the use of asset models. The document describes the framework for collaboration, the introduction to the Common Data Environment, the information management functions and the information requirements.

This standard is typically used by those involved in the procurement, design, construction and/or commissioning of built assets, and those involved in delivering asset management activities, including operations and maintenance. It tends to be used to: 

• Remove barriers to collaborative working.
• Enhance competitive tendering across borders.
• Reduce risk and cost with the use of the asset and project information models.

ISO 19650‑1 is applicable to built assets and construction projects of all sizes and all levels of complexity.

Now looking at ISO 19650‑2, it specifies the process of the management of information for the project delivery phase. This document helps the owner define the information requirements and determines the right commercial and collaborative environment for information production. The document also describes in detail the activities and tasks of the project parties at each project stage, from the Assessment and need, to the Project close out.

This standard is typically used by those involved in the procurement, design, construction and/or commissioning of built assets, and those involved in delivering asset management activities, including operations and maintenance. It tends to be used to:

• Specify the information management process
• Enable the appointing party to establish the requirements for information delivery at different stages of the project.
• Establish the right commercial and collaborative environment for information production.

ISO 19650‑2 is applicable to all types of assets and by all types and sizes of organisations, regardless of the chosen procurement strategy.

Next is ISO 19650‑3, which specifies requirements for information management, in the form of a management process, within the context of the operational phase of assets and the exchanges of information within it, using BIM. This document helps owners and operators achieve their business objectives and manage information through the asset lifecycle. At the same time, it improves quality and minimises the waste of information.

This standard is typically used by owners and operators of built assets, from individual buildings to infrastructure networks, Civil engineers, Campuses and buildings. It tends to be used to:

• Establish information requirements during the operational phase of the asset.
• Achieve business objectives through effective efficient production, use and management of information through the operational and end-of-life phases of assets.
• Improve information quality to achieve corporate goals and archive or dispose incorrect or waste of data.

ISO 19650‑3 is applicable to all types of assets and to organisations of all types and sizes involved in the operational phase of assets.

Then, under ISO 19650‑4, it supplements ISO 19650-1 to ISO 19650-3 and ISO 19650-5 by providing the explicit process and criteria for each individual information exchange. The document aims to secure the benefits arising from collaborative and interoperable BIM by choosing open schemas, data formats and conventions whilst specifying when alternatives may be appropriate.

This standard is typically used by those involved in the procurement, design, construction and/or commissioning of built assets, and those involved in delivering asset management activities, including operations and maintenance. It tends to be used to:

• Secure benefits arising from collaborative and interoperable BIM by choosing open schemas, data formats and conventions.
• Establish appropriate criteria to ensure the reliability of the information and the repeatability of the process.
• Implement the concepts defined in ISO 19650-1.

ISO 19650‑4 is applicable to any information exchange within the delivery stages covered by ISO 19650-2 and operational trigger events covered by ISO 19650-3.

And lastly, under ISO 19650‑5, it specifies the principles and requirements for security-minded information management at a stage of maturity described as building information modelling (BIM) according to the ISO 19650 series and as defined in ISO 19650-1.

This standard is typically used by digital engineering and technologies organisations and information security professionals. It tends to be used to:

• Take a security-minded approach to the organisation and digitalisation of information about building and civil engineering.
• Reduce the risk of loss, misuse or modification of sensitive information that could impact safety, security and resilience of assets, the built environment or the services by or from them.
• Reduce the impacts of security breaches, which include reputational damage, diversion of resources, fines for regulatory breaches, and disruption to day-to-day operational activities.

ISO 19650‑5,  is applicable throughout the lifecycle of an initiative, project, asset, product or service, whether planned or existing, where sensitive information is obtained, created, processed and/or stored.

So as mentioned, ISO 19650 is an international standard and its adoption varies globally:

• In the UK, it's mandated for government projects and widely adopted in the private sector.
• The European Union has recognised it as a standard, encouraging adoption across member states.
• In North America, adoption is growing, although some regions still prefer local standards.
• Many developing countries are looking to ISO 19650 as a way to leapfrog older BIM standards and align with global best practices.

ISO 19650 also uses and defines four types of information requirements:

• Organisational information requirements (OIR): High-level requirements that define the information needed to meet the appointing party’s strategic business objectives and the needs of its asset management system.
• Project information requirements (PIR): information for the delivery phase of an asset
• Asset information requirements (AIR): information for the ongoing operation and maintenance of an asset
• Exchange information requirements (EIR): how, when, and what information will be delivered at each information milestone

The key benefits of becoming certified under ISO 19650 is that it helps organisations to:

• Streamline their asset management by adopting a global common information exchange process and criteria.
• Maintain quality across the built asset lifecycle by managing information consistently through strategic planning, design, engineering, development, documentation and construction, operation, maintenance, refurbishment, repair, and end-of-life.
• Boost collaboration and competitiveness by removing barriers to collaborative working and competitive tendering.
• Reduce the risk of exposing sensitive information and taking a security-minded approach to the organisation and digitisation of building-related information.
• Reduced information wastage and rework through clearly specified information requirements
• Ultimately the ISO 19650 information management process enables faster, easier, and more accurate decisions to be made by stakeholders across the asset lifecycle. As well as the creation of information models that better meets the needs of the client.

So what are the requirements of ISO 19650 and how can organisations start implementing it:

The ISO 19650 series outlines requirements for managing the specification, tendering, award, mobilisation, and delivery of information. The requirements placed on the organisation depend on whether it is:

• An appointing party: i.e., a demand-side organisation. Which is the establisher of the work. This is often the client, asset owner or operator. They are the receivers of information, as well as the works provided by the delivery team/s. There is only one appointing party per project.
• A lead appointing party: i.e., a tier one supplier such as a lead contractor. Which is an organisation directly appointed by the appointing party to provide works, goods or services concerning an asset. This is often the engineering consultant, JV arrangement or contractor. The lead appointed party takes the role of coordinator between the delivery team and appointing party. They are providers of information, and there can be multiple lead appointed parties per project.
• An appointed party: i.e., a supplier appointed by a lead appointing party. Which can be organisations who are subcontracted by a lead appointed party to assist in the provision of works, goods or services. They are providers of information for the lead appointed party, not the appointing party. An appointing party is likely to have appointments with multiple lead appointed parties throughout the project lifecycle, who also have their own appointments with multiple appointed parties.

ISO 19650-2 outlines these requirements for delivery phase, whilst ISO 19650-3 outlines these requirements for the operational phase.

So apart from the parties involved, there are also teams formed to create and manage the information. They consist of the task team, the delivery team and the project team.

The task team is a team or an individual responsible for performing specific tasks in the production and management of information. Task teams are often created around a discipline, for example: civil design, surveying, traffic/ signal, geotechnical or structural design. There are often multiple task teams within the delivery team.

The delivery team includes all individuals responsible for the creation and management of information. It is the lead appointed party and all its appointed parties. There may be multiple delivery teams on a project.

And lastly, is the project team is all parties involved in the delivery process of an asset, the appointing party, lead appointed party/ parties, and all appointed parties. This includes both receivers and creators of information. There is only one project team on the project.

Now the ISO standard is suitable for all sizes of organisations and is commonly used by civil engineers and owners and operators of built assets. These range in scale and complexity and include:

• Individual buildings and portfolios of buildings including government and commercial.
• Infrastructure networks such as rail, road etc.
• Pieces of infrastructure like bridges, and flood prevention.
• Campuses.

In terms of the implementation process towards achieving certification, there are three steps companies need to follow, including:

• Understanding and preparing by purchasing the standard, studying and understanding it.
• Ensuring the organisation understands the principles of ISO 19650 and its individual roles, and review their activities and processes against the standard.
• Then booking their certification assessment with BSI where they will conduct a 2-stage audit of the company’s systems and documents.The certification process is quite straightforward and consists of:
• An Initial consultation to understand the company’s needs and establish a roadmap.
• Then training will need to be undertaken to assist company’s to understand why ISO 19650 is important and learn the key terms and definitions.
• Companies will then need to undertake a gap analysis to identify areas for improvement and develop an action plan.
• The standard then provides guidance on implementing the necessary controls and processes, followed by a thorough audit to ensure the standards compliance.
• Once certification is obtained, companies will then need commit to continuous improvement to maintain certification and adapt to evolving threats.

What is the difference between ISO 19650 and BIM certification?

The ISO 19650 series outlines the principles and requirements in relation to information management using building information modelling (BIM). On the other hand, obtaining BIM certification with BSI demonstrates companies have the skills to meet current or future BIM projects within their organisation.

There are other standards which also support good information management in BIM, such as the BS 8536 (Design, manufacture and construction for operability). Whilst the scope of BIM certification schemes vary, they can also cover other standards such as ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and ISO 44001 Collaborative Business Relationships within their scope.

However, conforming to the ISO 19650 standard means that companies are aligned to the UK information management mandate. Companies that follow the standard ensures that regardless of where the company operates, they can collaborate and benefit from consistent information management processes. It also assists to standardise their approach in generating and classifying data, data security, and data exchange  by conforming to ISO 19650. 

So as a final thing, just to give you the overall view of the process of putting together an ISO 19650 accredited team for a project, let run through the process which consists of a three key stages:

• The Procurement Phase
• The Planning Phase 
• The Production Phase

1. Under the Procurement Phase: The appointing party seeks to select a lead appointed party to carry out the appointment. This involves the appointing party issuing an invitation to tender and then evaluating tender responses made by prospective lead appointed parties. The prospective teams submit plans at this stage which include a Pre-appointment BIM Execution Plan (BEP), responsibility matrix, risk register, and capability assessments.Submissions are then assessed for alignment with project goals, collaboration, and risk management.

2. Then under the Planning Phase: Tenders are evaluated by the appointing party and the successful lead appointed party is selected. The delivery team then undergoes detailed planning, prepare a schedule outlining how the BEP meets the Employer’s Requirements by providing a Detailed Responsibility Matrix, a Task information delivery plan and a Master Information Delivery Plan. The team will also outline how the works will be completed, and mobilises resources to meet the project schedule.

3. And lastly, at the Production Phase: The works of the appointment are carried out by the delivery team, information is collaboratively produced and coordinated by task teams, and then issued to the appointing party for review at each information delivery milestone. A common data environment is used to enable the collaborative production and management of information, ensuring information is reusable, auditable, trusted, and standardised via metadata.

Then once all the information delivery milestones have been met, work is completed and the appointment(s) ends. The information is archived and aggregated into the asset information model (AIM) for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the asset.

To sum up what I discussed today:

• ISO 19650 Overview: ISO 19650 is an international standard for Building Information Modelling (BIM) that helps manage information throughout the lifecycle of a built asset. It builds on the UK's BS 1192 and PAS 1192-2 standards and aims to increase efficiency and improve predictability in construction projects.
• Core Documents and Phases: The ISO 19650 series consists of several documents detailing different phases of information management, such as project delivery (ISO 19650-2), operational phase (ISO 19650-3), and information exchange (ISO 19650-4), along with a focus on security (ISO 19650-5) and health and safety.
• Principles of Implementation: The key principles include clear project requirements from the client, collaborative information production and management, and the use of a Common Data Environment (CDE) to ensure information is accessible and controlled throughout the project.
• Global Adoption and Benefits: ISO 19650 is recognised globally, with increasing adoption in countries like the UK, Europe, and developing nations. Benefits of certification include improved asset management, enhanced collaboration, reduced risks, and better information quality.
• Certification and Implementation Process: To implement ISO 19650, organisations need to understand its principles, assess their current processes, and undergo a certification audit. This involves a structured approach through procurement, planning, and production phases to ensure consistent information management and secure collaboration across projects.