BuildBuild: 8am…
The team
The whole project team is at the table: Callum, the project manager, Dave, the site manager, Priya, who looks after quality and safety, Rex and Sam.
Callum: Helen says it's the project's audit, not IM's.
Stage 5 · Build it · Stop 13 of 13 · The right way
Audit day ★
The back alley's bill so far: 138 weeks · See the bill
The right way
The trail
Promise and work match. Who checked drawing 042? One click in the Site Office: made, checked, authorised, accepted, with names and dates. The leaver's access ended the day he left.
BuildBuild: 3pm…
Two minor
Two minor findings. The certificate is recommended. Helen's framework bid gets its badge, and the cake is for real.
IM's auditSam alone, four FINALs, a leaver who logged in on Tuesday, one major and seven minor.
The project's auditThe whole team, the trail a click away, two minor, and a cake that means something.
Now there is: The inspection (a certification audit): evidence that the team does what it says. Two minor findings.
What's going on here
An audit doesn't test the paperwork, it tests whether the team does what its promise says, and can show it. If the plans, the work and the trail between them all live in the Site Office, every "show me" is a click. If they live in inboxes and heads, no amount of preparation the week before will find them.
In the town See it in the town: when the assessor says "show me", how many clicks away is the answer?
The inspection is an outside visitor walking the town and asking to see it working: the order from Client Town, the promise that answered it, and the work that followed. If all of that lives in the Site Office, the trail for drawing 042 shows made, checked, authorised and accepted, with names and dates, in one click. The site gate shows the leaver's keys handed back the day he left. If it lives in inboxes and four files called FINAL, there is nothing for the assessor to see, however hard everyone looks.
Fix it Audit coming? Rehearse the "show me".
- Pick three drawings and pull up each one's trail from the Site Office.
- Check the site gate list against this month's leavers.
- Book the project team, not just IM, for audit day.
A note for the information manager: An audit is the project's, not yours, so get the project manager to own the attendance and the evidence, and you own the system that holds it.
Try it on your job
Pick one drawing on your job. Could you show an assessor, in one minute, who checked it and when?
ISO 19650 The evidence trail
| ISO 19650 says | Means | In the town |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange information requirements (EIR) | What the client asks to receive from the job, setting out the information, its form and when it is due | The order |
| BIM execution plan (BEP) | The lead firm's answer to the client's requirements, describing how the information will be delivered and by whom | The promise |
| Common data environment (CDE) | The shared place where information is held with its history of who did what and when, so the process can be shown, not just described | The Site Office and the trail |
| Not from ISO 19650: certification audit | An independent assessor checks a firm against a published management standard and recommends a certificate if the evidence holds up | The inspection |
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.