InfoTown™
Kofi's journey · Commercial · Lesson 4

The claim you can't prove

Before you start

In the story

Three weeks late, and no way to prove it.

Back to the story

The right way

The record

Drawings from the client's designer come through the CDE, not by email, and the CDE records who shared what, which revision, and when everyone was told.

Month seven

Kofi pulls the record: due on the 3rd, published on the 24th. Three weeks.

The claim

It goes in with the record attached. Kofi has his evidence in ten minutes, and the client doesn't argue the dates.

Six inboxesSix answers, no attachment, and a claim that couldn't be proved.
One recordDates, revisions and who was told, in ten minutes.
Think like Kofi

If this ends in an argument, could I prove when it happened? If the answer is "it's in an email somewhere", it isn't evidence yet.

Continue Kofi's journey

Story 5: Paid on acceptance

Payment is tied to accepted deliverables. Ours keep coming back rejected, so the cash is held.
The right way, explained

The right way, explained

The town's post office stamps every parcel in and out. When there's an argument about when something arrived, nobody searches their pockets; they ask the post office.

If you're the project manager

If you're the project manager

Insist that information from the client's side comes through the CDE too. An email straight to site is quick, and it's also the first thing a claim loses.

In the town See it in the town: three weeks late, and no proof. Where should the proof have been?

Kofi's view: the Site Office records everything in and out. That record is the evidence.

The towns meet at the project site Your town, Designer Town and Client Town each stay where they are. Roads from all three lead into one shared project site in the middle, with a Site Office being built and a sign saying for this job only. DESIGNER TOWNYOUR TOWNCLIENT TOWN THE PROJECT SITESITE OFFICE THIS JOB ONLY stays where it isstays where it isstays where it is everyone worksthrough the site

Now mobilise it: build and connect the site

In the middle sits the Site Office: the project's CDE, joined to your own Records Office by the home line. Lines run out to every town: the design line to the designers, the client line to the client, the home line back to your own Records Office, the feeder line to the site apps and footpaths to the cabins. The workflows running along all these lines are how one system passes work to another. Signposts tell everyone where each kind of work goes, and the gate decides who gets in.

  1. Build the Site Office
  2. Connect the towns
  3. Plug in the site apps
  4. Put up the signposts
  5. Set up the gate
  6. Test everything

The towns are there. The project site is an empty plot. Your job: mobilise it.

The project site, connected A project site with the Site Office (the project CDE) at its centre. A design line runs to Designer Town, a line runs to the Client Town, a line runs home to your town's Records Office, a feeder line runs to the site apps, and footpaths lead to the site cabins. Signposts show where drawings, photos, RFIs and approvals go. A gate at the edge of the site controls who gets in. PROJECT SITE DESIGN LINE CLIENT LINE HOME LINE FEEDER LINE DESIGNER TOWN DESIGN SYSTEM CLIENT TOWN YOUR TOWN RECORDS OFFICE CDE SITE OFFICE SITE CABINS SITE APPS MOBILISED ✓ Drawings → Site Office ← Paper? Scan it in Site photos → app ← Visitors: sign in here Approvals → client line
Design line. To and from the designers.
Home line. Back to your own Records Office.
Client line. To and from the Client Town.
Feeder line. What's captured on site must reach the Site Office: by hand, on a schedule, through a link between systems, or because the app is part of the CDE.

This is the record of every exchange!

The CDE's trail of who shared what, which revision, and when.

Sam's Heads Up The CDE can't remember what it never saw

InfoTown good practice: Everything shared goes through the CDE, so it's on the record.

On your job: Some things will still arrive by email. Put them in the CDE the same day, with the date they arrived, or the record has a hole exactly where you'll need it.

For the audit What the auditor will ask
  • Show me when this drawing was received, and who was told.
  • How do you deal with information that arrives outside the CDE?
For the audit What good evidence looks like
  • A CDE record of each exchange, with dates and revisions.
  • A rule for logging anything that arrives another way, and proof it's followed.
From the standard
ISO 19650 The record of every exchange

ISO 19650 expects the CDE to keep a record of every exchange: what, which revision, who and when. Using that record in a claim is InfoTown's example; the claim itself is your contract's business.

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