BuildBuild: Four months out…
Booked
Priya books the rehearsal four months before the real audit, and Helen, the divisional director, puts it in the project director's diary herself.
Stage 5 · Build it · Stop 12 of 13 · The right way
Audit rehearsal
The back alley's bill so far: 132 weeks · See the bill
The right way
The rehearsal
Held on the day it was booked, with Stevie and Dave in the room. Three gaps: a check missing a name, a leaver with access, a late inspection.
BuildBuild: Two weeks out…
Fixed
All three were fixed weeks ago, with evidence. Sam looks at the calendar and goes for a sandwich.
Moved three timesTwelve findings, two weeks, and a long stare at the calendar.
Held on the dayThree gaps, all fixed, and a sandwich.
Now there is: The rehearsal (an internal audit), its findings, and the fixes.
What's going on here
The point of a rehearsal is to find the gaps while there's still time to fix them. Booked early, held on the day, with the people who hold the evidence in the room, it turns audit day from a surprise into a formality.
New at this stop
- The rehearsal
- The rehearsal is a practice audit by your own people. The inspection is the real one, by an outside assessor. (Internal and certification audits.)
In the town See it in the town: who checks the town before the inspector does?
The rehearsal is the town checking its own streets: Priya walks through the Site Office and asks to see the promise working in practice. Can someone show the checked and approved steps on a drawing, the parts list, the label on a piece of work, and who still holds keys at the site gate? The answers have to be in the Site Office, not in Stevie's or Dave's head, because heads go on leave. Held early, with the right people in the room, the rehearsal turns three gaps into three fixes long before the real inspection arrives.
Fix it Rehearsal keeps moving? Pin it down.
- Get a director to put the rehearsal date in diaries and protect it.
- Invite the people who hold the evidence, not just whoever is free.
- Give each finding an owner and a date before you leave the room.
A note for the information manager: Treat every move of the rehearsal date as a risk on the warning signs list, because each move eats the time you'll need to fix what it finds.
Try it on your job
When is your next audit? Is there a rehearsal in the diary, and has anyone moved it yet?
ISO 19650 Checking the promise is kept
| ISO 19650 says | Means | In the town |
|---|---|---|
| BIM execution plan (BEP) | The lead firm's written account of how it will deliver the information asked for, and who will do it | The promise |
| Information production methods and procedures | The agreed ways the team makes, checks, names and shares information on the job | Checked and approved, and the label |
| Not from ISO 19650: internal audit | A firm's own people checking that its processes are being followed, so gaps are found and fixed before an outside assessor arrives | The rehearsal |
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.