Information Container-based collaborative working

At this point, all information relating to a project milestone should be complete and ready for delivery. The information model will be federated as per the federation strategy and submitted for the appointing party’s review against their acceptance criteria that were defined during the start of the project. This stage is broken down into a series of four activities that will need to be completed in accordance with clause 5.7 of I.S. EN ISO 19650-2:

Submit (Shared) information model for lead appointed party authorization

Prior to the delivery of the information model to the appointing party, each task team shall submit their information to the lead appointed party for authorisation within the project CDE. This will be prepared and submitted by the task team / appointed parties and should take place at the start of any process of information exchange with the appointing party.

Before submitting, the task team should consider that the information model: meets the deliverables listed in the TIDP, is in accordance with the EIR, meets the acceptance criteria for each information requirements, and the level of information need for each information requirement is achieved[1]. All information should be assigned with the correct status code and submitted in accordance with the project’s information production methods and procedures.

Review and authorize the (Shared) information model

Once submitted, the lead appointed party shall undertake a review of the shared information model in accordance with the project’s information production methods and procedures.

By doing this, the lead appointed party shall consider: the deliverables listed in the MIDP, the EIR, the lead appointed party’s EIR, acceptance criteria for each information requirements, and the level of information need for each information requirement[1].

If successful, the lead appointed party will instruct each of the task teams to submit their information for the appointing party’s acceptance within the CDE. However, if the review is unsuccessful, the lead appointed party shall reject the information model and instruct task teams to re-submit with amendments. It is recommended that partial acceptance should be avoided as this can lead to coordination issues between delivery teams.

Any successful information exchanges taking place within the delivery team only will cease here without proceeding to the next two clauses. This activity will take place during the information exchange with the appointing party.

Submit (Published) information model for appointing party acceptance

Upon successful acceptance from the lead appointed party, each task team / appointed party shall submit their published information for the appointing party to review and accept within the project’s CDE. This activity will take place during the information exchange with the appointing party.

Review and accept the (Published) information model

Finally, the appointing party shall undertake a review of the submitted published information model in accordance with the project’s information production methods and procedures.

Some of the key considerations include: the deliverables listed in the MIDP, the EIR, the lead appointed party’s EIR, acceptance criteria for each information requirement and the level of information need for each information requirement[1]. If the review is successful, the appointing party shall accept the information model as a Published deliverable within the CDE. If the review is unsuccessful, the appointing party shall reject the information model and instruct an amendment from the lead appointed party. If an amendment is required from an appointed party, the lead appointed party will direct and instruct what needs to be changed.

Like clause 5.7.2, partial acceptance should be avoided to prevent potential disputes between delivery teams. This activity will take place during the information exchange with the appointing party.

Summary

The success of the information production throughout the project will depend on the collaboration of the delivery team. By following the CDE workflow as per I.S. EN ISO 19650-1, all information can effectively be shared and coordinated through the process of checking, reviewing, and approving. For publishing information, the review and authorisation process allows delivery teams to ensure that they have produced what is expected of them at that specific stage. Once the information has been published following acceptance from the appointing party, it will be housed in the project CDE, remain accessible, and be suitable for decision-making for the project team. The process, as outlined in the collaborative production of information, will be repeated for each information delivery milestone as defined in the appointing party’s EIR.

In response to the information model submitted by the delivery team, the appointing party will review and accept/ reject the information model relative to the project stage requirements.

[1] Organisation and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling (BIM) - Information management using building information modelling - Part 2: Delivery phase of the assets (I.S. EN ISO 19650-2:2018)