I have read and listened to many positive and negative comments relating to the ISO 19650 series of international standards published earlier this year. My personal position is only positive when considering the wider impact, and I take the view that this new ISO 19650 standards are just another evolutionary step towards industry digitisation and the further development of the information age we all live and work within.
So, is this new ISO 19650 international standards the dawn of a brand new information age? I personally do not think they are, they are not even revolutionary in their content but they have elevated the effort, work and commitment undertaken by the UK’s construction sector to the International stage in a way that should not be undervalued, or its longer-term impact ignored.
The new ISO 19650 series provides today’s global construction sector with a consistent framework for adoption, driving standardisation whilst still allowing for innovation; it also validates or reconfirms that BIM provides that much needed foundation for the organisation and digitisation of information for buildings and civil engineering works. But for me there is one very important concept that I would like to point out in this article and that is the changes relating to the responsibilities for information delivery, including the project management of that information.
PAS 1192:2 introduced and described several roles, responsibilities and authorities using descriptions such as Task Team Manager, Task Information Manager, Interface Manager, etc. This caused confusion for many across the industry and an incorrect belief that more people had to be employed on projects to fill these new roles, a simple case of misunderstanding despite the original concept having good intentions. In ISO 19650 these role descriptions no longer exist, and have been replaced by functions and a new process to assign these functions to the most appropriate organisation is now available, via the Information Management Assignment Matrix, what I personally consider is a well thought out RACI table. I propose this matrix will support very useful and productive initial discussions within Employer organisations, or by those advising Employers, Clients or the Appointing Party (using the ISO term) when developing the overall information management plan for the project.
I am also pleased to point out that Information Management will no longer simply equal Information Manager. There is and remains a key role for Information Manager(s) on projects, on both the Employer and Supplier sides, but we now have a wider opportunity to de-centralise information management and assign it across project teams to those that have the most appropriate skills, rather than within a single or very limited number of appointments. This approach also supports my strong belief that we all need to be personally responsible for information management for the greatest success.
