InfoTown™
Part 4 · Why It Works

Putting It All Together

What does it all add up to?

Before you start

In the story

You've just watched every shortcut at once. This lesson puts the whole journey on one map.

Back to the story

The right way: Drawing 042, the whole journey

The town that works

Getting ready

The parts list is written, Sam's built the Site Office, and everyone knows where things go.

Every day

One parcel, one label, four checkpoints, one proper route.

Handover, and after

Dave: Right first time. Again. Teas are on me.

He buys the teas.

The back-alley townEvery shortcut saved an hour today and cost a week somewhere else.
The town that worksNobody noticed the system. They just noticed things went right.

If you drew your own town tomorrow, which stop would you fix first?

End of the line

That's Rex's first year

Back to the Visitor Centre to pick your next route: Sam's job, Helen's year, or the whole project.
The right way, explained

The right way, explained

Every lesson is one stop on the same line: from the client's first question, through planning, making, labelling, sharing, checking and handing over, to somebody using it years later. Skip a stop and the shortcut costs you somewhere else. Take them all and nobody notices the system. They just notice things going right.

In the town See it in the town: every stop on one line. What does it all add up to?
The scene

Drawing 042's whole journey

One line, twelve stops. Above each stop is the town word; below it is what the standard calls it. Every stop makes the next one possible, and skipping one shows up later, usually on site, usually on a Monday. Pick any stop to go back to that lesson.

The whole journey, as a transit map A transit line with twelve stops in two rows. Top row: the Town (Information Management), the Buildings (Systems and the CDE), the People (Parties and Task Teams), the Order (Information Delivery Plan), The Project Site (Mobilisation), Making It Together (Information Container). It curves round to the bottom row: the Labels (Metadata), Sharing Your Work (Information Exchange), the Checkpoints (Approval Process), Handing Over (Authorisation and Acceptance), Using Information (Information Use), and the terminus, Putting It All Together: your ISO 19650 process in action. 1The TownInformationManagement 2The BuildingsSystemsand the CDE 3The PeopleParties andTask Teams 4The OrderInformationDelivery Plan 5The Project SiteMobilisation 6Making It TogetherInformationContainer 7The LabelsMetadata 8Sharing Your WorkInformationExchange 9The CheckpointsApprovalProcess 10Handing OverAuthorisationand Acceptance 11Using InformationInformation Use 12You are hereISO 19650in action Part 1 · The Place Part 2 · Getting Ready Part 3 · The Journey Part 4 · Why It Works

This is your ISO 19650 process in action!

Plan it, set it up, make it, label it, share it, check it, hand it over, use it. That's the standard, in town language.

ISO 19650 is the international standard for managing information over the whole life of a built asset. ISO 19650-2 covers delivery: understanding what's needed, appointing the teams, mobilising, producing information together, and delivering it for authorisation and acceptance. The standard sets the process, your BEP is the promise, and your rulebook says how. Together they make the whole town work.

Fix it Where to start on Monday

Where to start
on Monday

  1. Draw your town: the buildings, the people, the routes and the back alleys.
  2. Pick the one back alley that hurts most, and build a proper route for it.
  3. Teach the town language: parcels, labels, checkpoints. The ISO words will follow.

A note for the Coordinators (that's IM): make sure you draw out the town before you try to fix it! You can't improve routes nobody can see...

More detail
The whole-town test Three questions for your whole town

Can you see it?

Drawn outYour buildings, people, routes and back alleys, on one map.
Never mapped"It's all in Dave's head."

Can you trust it?

TrustedLabelled, checked, approved, authorised and accepted.
HopedIt's called FINAL, so…

Can you find it and prove it later?

YesPublished, findable, with a trail behind it.
NoIt's on Dave's phone. Dave's phone is in the excavation.
The real town Why does any of this matter?

Because every shortcut is cheaper today and dearer later.

Rework

Building from the wrong version, then building it again.

Risk

If you can't prove what you built, you can't defend it either.

Time

Half an hour hunting, every day, for everyone. Add it up. Then sit down.

Trust

Once a client stops trusting your information, they check everything. Slowly.

From the standard
ISO 19650 The eight activities of ISO 19650-2
ISO 19650-2 activityIn shortWhere you met it
Assessment and needThe client works out what it needs and sets up the rules and the CDELessons 2 and 4
Invitation to tenderThe client says what it needs from biddersLesson 4 (the requirements)
Tender responseBidders say how they'll deliver it: BEP, capability, mobilisation planSam's Tender 4 (the promise)
AppointmentWho-does-what, the BEP confirmed, and the delivery plans agreedLessons 3 and 4
MobilisationPeople, IT and methods set up and testedLesson 5
Collaborative productionInformation made, checked, reviewed and sharedLessons 6 to 9
Information model deliveryAuthorised by the lead, accepted by the clientLesson 10
Project close-outThe information is archived and lessons are learnedFollow the Process

Based on the ISO 19650 series: the ideas come from the standard; the plain-English wording, examples and advice are InfoTown's. ISO 19650 and its UK National Annex are © ISO and BSI. 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.