Wednesday
Alex fills in the details when he shares it on the CDE: number, revision, status and title. It takes about a minute. One whole minute.
Part 3 · The Journey
The Labels
How does anyone know what's in the box?
Before you start
In the story
Four files called FINAL, and nobody knew which was right. This lesson reads a proper label, part by part.
Back to the story
The right way: Four files called FINAL
Same week, filled in properly
Thursday
Dave: P03, S2. That's for information, not for building. I'll wait for the one for construction.
He can tell without ringing anyone. Miracles do happen.
Six months later
Anyone can search for 0042 and see every version in order, even after Alex has left for a better-paid job.
Just a file nameFour files called FINAL, nobody sure which is right, and a drawing nobody can file.
Filled in properlyOne drawing, one name. Anyone can tell what it is, whether it's the latest and what it's for.
Open a file on your project. Could a stranger tell what it is, whether it's the latest and what they can use it for, from its name and details alone?
Continue your journey
Story 8: Drawing 042 takes a shortcut
Rex's diary. Week 12. Friday, 4pm. Dave needs a drawing for Monday. The proper one isn't published yet.
The right way, explained
Every parcel needs a label on the outside, so nobody has to open it to know what it is: which project, which drawing, which version, and what it's fit to be used for. FINAL is a feeling, not a label. Alex's one minute filling it in saved Dave two hours on the phone.
In the town See it in the town: how does anyone know what's in the box without opening it?
The scene
Goods In at the Site Office
Every parcel on the project passes through Goods In at the Site Office, the project's CDE. The sorters never open the boxes. They read the label and send each parcel down the right line. A parcel with no label can't go anywhere, so it ends up in the in-tray, where nobody will ever look again.
Labelled. Sorted and sent to the right place.
No label. Stuck in the in-tray.
Read the label
Every part of the label answers a question
It looks like a code, but each part answers a plain question. Pick any part to see what it tells you.
Parcel labelDrawing 042
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Is it the latest?
P03 is the third preliminary revision. While it's being worked on it also carries a version, like P03.02. When it becomes part of the contract it starts again as C01.
- On the label
- P03
- IM calls it
- Revision
- Why it matters
- Without it, four files called FINAL all look equally right.
This is Metadata!
Metadata is information about information. It lets the town sort, find and trust a parcel without opening it.
ISO 19650 gives every information container a unique ID, built from an agreed naming convention, plus metadata for its status, revision and classification. In the UK, the naming fields come from the National Annex. That's the code on your label.
Sam's Heads Up Your labels may not look like this one
This example uses the seven fields many jobs start from: Project, Originator, Functional Breakdown, Spatial Breakdown, Form, Discipline and Number. That's the standard starting point, not a law of nature.
Your project sets its own naming convention, and it can add fields, rename them or change the codes. Some clients have ten-part names that read like a car registration crossed with a tax return. Always check your project's naming convention before you trust a label, or make one.
Fix it Found a parcel with no label?
Found a parcel
with no label?
- Don't guess. Ask whoever packed it.
- Get it labelled and put on the CDE.
- Archive the copies called FINAL so nobody picks them up.
A note for the Coordinators (that's IM): if people keep getting labels wrong, stop blaming them and make labelling easier! Pick-lists, templates and required fields, so the right label is also the quickest one.
The stranger test Could a stranger answer these from the label alone?
What is it?
LabelledA civil drainage drawing for Area 2, produced by your organisation.
Not labelled"drainage FINAL". Which job? Which area? Whose?
Is it the latest?
LabelledP03 comes after P02. The order is built in.
Not labelledFINAL, FINAL v2, USE THIS. You have to guess from the dates.
Can I use it?
LabelledS2 means for information. Don't build from it yet.
Not labelledNothing says draft, so people assume they can.
The real town Why do labels go wrong?
Hardly ever out of carelessness. Usually the label made sense to the person who wrote it.
"I know what it is"
Great. Nobody else does.
The code looks like admin
A long number feels like paperwork, right up until you need to find something.
FINAL feels like a status
FINAL is a feeling, not a status. S2 is a status.
Labels fall off
Download it, rename it, email it, and the label's gone.
UK National Annex The naming rules, and every status and revision code
The seven parts of a name
| Field | The question it answers | On Drawing 042 |
|---|---|---|
| Project | Which project? One code for the whole job, separate from anyone's own job number | P1234 |
| Originator | Which organisation produced it? | ABC |
| Functional Breakdown | Which system, element or work package? ZZ = several, XX = none | XX |
| Spatial Breakdown | Where? A level, area, chainage or grid. ZZ = several, XX = none | A2 (Area 2) |
| Form | What form of information is it? | D |
| Discipline | Which technical discipline produced it? | C |
| Number | Which one? A fixed-length number with leading zeros | 0042 |
The codes on Drawing 042
Form D is a drawing (T would be text, L a list or schedule). Discipline C is civil engineering (Z means it covers several disciplines). XX means a field isn't subdivided, ZZ means it covers several. The Annex has the full lists of form and discipline codes, and your project's information standard says which ones your job uses.
Status codes
| Code | State | What that means to you | Build from it? |
|---|---|---|---|
S0 | Work in progress | Someone is still working on it in their own team's area. You shouldn't normally see it, and you shouldn't rely on it. | No |
S1 | Shared | Shared so other teams can check their work fits around it. Expect it to change. | No |
S2 | Shared | Shared for information. Read it, refer to it, plan with it. | No |
S3 | Shared | Shared so people can comment on it. If you've been asked to review it, now's the time to speak up. | No |
S4 | Shared | Shared for the lead firm to review and authorise. | Not yet |
S5 | Shared | Shared for the client to review and accept. | Not yet |
A1, A2… An | Published | Authorised and accepted, with no comments outstanding. The number is the work stage: on this site A5 is construction and A6 is handover and the as-built record. | Yes, for that stage, if it's the latest |
B1… Bn | Deprecated | Accepted in part, with comments. The Annex still lists it but marks it deprecated, so you'll see it less and less. If you find one, ask which comments still apply. | Ask first |
Revision codes
| Code | When | What that means to you |
|---|---|---|
P01.01, P01.02… | Work in progress | Still being worked on. The second number is the version within that revision, so the team can keep track of its working versions before the next shared revision. Nobody outside the team should be using it. |
P01, P02… | Shared | A shared draft. The number goes up every time it's shared again, so check you've got the highest one. |
C01, C02… | Published | The published version, authorised and accepted. Higher is newer. Build from the latest C, with an A status. |
An S code says what something may be used for. An A code only says it's been authorised and accepted, and the n is the work stage. The Annex ties n to the work stages in BS 8536-1 (buildings) and BS 8536-2 (infrastructure), since brought together in BS 8536:2022, unless your project's information standard sets out another approach. On this site, construction is stage 5 and handover is stage 6, so a construction issue is A5 and the as-built record is A6. Why each A code was issued isn't in the code at all: your project's information standard has to say.
Based on the UK National Annex to BS EN ISO 19650-2. Your project's information standard can add to it. ISO 19650 and its UK National Annex are © ISO and BSI. InfoTown explains the ideas in its own words, for learning; you'll hear the same language across the industry. Read more for free in the Information Management Initiative (IMI) Framework guidance from BSI and nima. For the full requirements, use the standard itself.