ISO 19650 is an international series of standards for managing information over the whole life of a built asset — from the first brief, through design and construction, to operation. It grew out of the UK’s earlier 1192 standards and is now used worldwide.
It is a framework for information management, not a modelling standard. It does not say which software to use or how to model a wall. It says how information should be requested, produced, checked, shared and stored so that the right people get the right information at the right time.
The parts
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Concepts and principles: vocabulary, roles, the information cycle |
| Part 2 | The delivery phase: the process from appointment to handover |
| Part 3 | The operational phase: managing information about an asset in use |
| Part 4 | Information exchange: criteria for reviewing and accepting information |
| Part 5 | A security-minded approach to information management |
Further parts and national annexes add detail, for example on health and safety information or local naming conventions.
Key ideas
- Roles: the appointing party (client side), the lead appointed party and appointed parties (delivery side), and task teams.
- Requirements cascade: the client defines what it needs; delivery teams respond with plans. See EIR and BEP.
- Planning delivery: task teams commit to deliverables in their TIDPs, combined into the MIDP. See MIDP and TIDP.
- Common data environment: information moves through work in progress, shared, published and archived states. See CDE.
- Level of information need: ask for what a purpose requires, no more. See LOD vs LOIN.
Requirements flow from the client’s needs into the EIR; the delivery team answers with the BEP and delivery plans.
Where to read more
Read the parts themselves (available from ISO and national standards bodies) and your country’s national annex. Industry guidance documents published alongside the standard are a gentler introduction.