Get readyGet ready: Month one…
The new survey
Stevie's team finishes the fresh survey and scans the old Precinct. The 400GB scan won't fit in the Site Office, so a card says where it lives.
Stage 4 · Design it · Stop 1 of 7 · The right way
What's already in the ground
The back alley's bill so far: 72 weeks · See the bill
The right way
The library copy
The survey goes straight in the Site Office as the library copy everyone works from, dated. Alex finds it, checks the date, and designs from it.
DesignDesign: Month four…
The ramp
The ramp meets the road. Exactly. The van drives up it. Nobody notices, which is the point.
The survey on a laptopA five-year-old survey used instead, and a ramp 400mm short.
The library copyThe new survey in the Site Office, dated, and a ramp that meets the road.
Now there is: The library copy of the survey (reference information), and a card saying where the big scan lives (a record of where large data is kept).
What's going on here
Every design starts from what's already there. A survey on a laptop or a scan in a drawer is information nobody else can use. Put the newest survey where everyone finds it, with its date, and if something's too big to store there, record where it lives.
In the town See it in the town: Is the survey you're drawing from the newest one?
The Precinct's 1986 drawings were the first library copies, handed out in the tender pack. Now there's a new one: Stevie's fresh survey, put in the Site Office with its date, for everyone to read and nobody to edit. The scan is too big to move in, so a card in the Site Office says where it lives. A survey on a laptop helps nobody but the laptop.
Fix it Designing from an old survey? Check the date now.
- Ask each designer which survey they're using, and its date.
- Put the newest survey in the Site Office as a dated library copy.
- Record where any data too big to store actually lives.
A note for the information manager: Make "which survey, and what date?" a routine question at every design start, because nobody checks the date on information they never thought to doubt.
Try it on your job
Ask your designer which survey they're working from, and its date. Then ask where the newest one is.
ISO 19650 From what's there to what's next
| ISO 19650 says | Means | In the town |
|---|---|---|
| Reference information | existing information shared to support the work, used but not changed by the people using it | the library copy |
| Information container | a named, lasting set of information, such as a file, that can be found and tracked | the survey, with its date on the outside |
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.