InfoTown™
Sam's journey · On the job (delivery) · Lesson 1

Which one's the real one?

Before you start

In the story

Three systems, two "latest" drawings, and a Clerk of Works who is not smiling.

Back to the story

The right way

Before the first file

Sam gets one master agreed in writing: the client's CDE.

Before go-live

Every other system gets a clear job: work in progress, and nothing anyone builds from. It's tested with a dummy drawing; joiners get access on day one, and leavers lose it on their last.

Week three

Stevie uploads once. Alex, site and the Clerk of Works all see the same survey.

Ours, and ours, and oursThree systems, two "latest" drawings, and a Clerk of Works not smiling.
One masterAgreed, tested, and the only place anyone builds from.
Think like Sam

For every system on your job, can you say whether it's the master, a workspace, or neither? Anything that's "a bit of both" is where two latest drawings come from.

Continue Sam's journey

Story 2: The plan grows up

The bid's information plan won the job. Then it went in a folder called TENDER.
The right way, explained

The right way, explained

A town can have many buildings, but only one Records Office everyone agrees to trust. Two post offices both claiming to be the real one is how parcels go missing.

If you're the project manager

If you're the project manager

Make it your rule, not Sam's: one master, and nobody on your team builds from anything else. Back Sam when someone says "but I've always used the drive".

In the town See it in the town: three places claim to be the real one. Which one counts?

Sam's view: one Site Office for the job, joined to every town by its own line. That's the one that counts.

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 Common Data Environment (CDE)!

The one place everyone shares from and builds from.

For the audit What the auditor will ask
  • Which system is the single source of truth, and where is that agreed?
  • Pick a joiner and a leaver: when did their access start and stop?
For the audit What good evidence looks like
  • The master CDE named in the confirmed plan.
  • A test record from before go-live.
  • An access log showing joiners and leavers.
From the standard
ISO 19650 The CDE, set up and tested

ISO 19650 expects one common data environment for the project, set up and tested before information starts moving, with the rules for what goes where agreed up front.

ExpectIn plain words
One agreed CDEThe master. Everything shared or published lives there
Other systems with a clear jobWork in progress, never the place anyone builds from
Tested before go-liveUpload, share and find a dummy file before the real ones arrive
Access managedJoiners added, leavers removed, on the day

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.