One source
The method statement lives on the CDE, and that's what every briefing comes from. Printed copies carry the revision code in big letters and "check it's current" on the front.
Priya's journey · Assurance · Lesson 2
The briefing on C01
Before you start
In the story
C02 existed. The gang was briefed on C01.
Back to the story
The right way
C02 issued
C01 is withdrawn: the wall copy comes down that day, and the supervisors are told, not just emailed. Every briefing records which revision it used, and who was there.
Monday
The new gang is briefed on C02. Rex signs next to "C02". The sides of the dig stay where they're put.
The copy on the wallA gang briefed on C01, a slump, and a sheet that never said which revision.
The current one, every timeOne source, old copies withdrawn, and the revision on every briefing.
Think like Priya
Documents tell people how to work; records prove what happened. A document has to be the current one every time someone uses it. When this one changes, how does the old copy disappear, and how will you know who was briefed on what?
Continue Priya's journey
Story 3: The binder in the cabin
Forty signed inspection sheets, one red ring binder, one bottom shelf, one river next door.
The right way, explained
When the town changes a road layout, the old signs come down the same day. Leave them up and drivers follow whichever sign they see first.
If you're the site manager
Brief from the CDE, not from the wall. When a method statement changes, pull the old copies yourself, brief again, and put the revision on the briefing sheet.
In the town See it in the town: C02 existed. So why was the gang working from C01?
Priya's view: every parcel's label says which revision it is. The old one comes off the shelf the day the new one arrives.
Labelled. Sorted and sent to the right place.
No label. Stuck in the in-tray.
Read the label
Every part of the label answers a question
It looks like a code, but each part answers a plain question. Pick any part to see what it tells you.
Parcel labelDrawing 042
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Is it the latest?
P03 is the third preliminary revision. While it's being worked on it also carries a version, like P03.02. When it becomes part of the contract it starts again as C01.
- On the label
- P03
- IM calls it
- Revision
- Why it matters
- Without it, four files called FINAL all look equally right.
This is Document Control!
The current version, in one place, with old copies withdrawn and every use traceable to a revision.
Sam's Heads Up Paper on the wall is fine, if it's the right paper
InfoTown good practice: Work from the current version on the CDE.
On your job: Sites need printed copies, and that's fine. Put the revision on the front in big letters, date it, and make swapping them someone's named job.
For the audit What the auditor will ask
- Show me the current method statement for this work, and the briefing record that goes with it.
- How do old revisions get withdrawn on site?
For the audit What good evidence looks like
- Method statements on the CDE with their revisions and status.
- Briefing records that name the revision used and who attended.
- A note of superseded copies withdrawn, and when.
ISO 19650 Working from the current version
Controlling method statements and procedures is your management system's job. ISO 19650's part is the rule it applies to drawings too: work from the current, shared version, and always know which revision is which.
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.