Page 9 - BIM and ISO 19650 from a project management perspective

1.1. ISO 19650 and BIM

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The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published ISO 19650 in December 2018 as the standard for organising
‘information about construction works. It
“sets out the concepts and principles for the business processes across the built environment sector in support
of management and production of information during the lifecycle of built assets, referred to as ‘information
management’ in the text, when using building information modelling.”

And explains that:
“These processes can deliver beneficial business outcomes to asset owners/operators, project clients, their supply
chains, and those involved in project funding including reduction of risk and reduction of cost through the creation
and use of asset and project information models.”

An EU BIM Task Group Handbook refers to ISO for a consistent description of BIM as:
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“A process or method of managing information related to facilities and projects to coordinate multiple inputs and
outputs, using shared digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of any built object, including
buildings, bridges, roads, process plant.”

The Task Group recognises a major benefit of using BIM in its following ‘lesson learned’:
“The overall result was that designers worked according to strict and clear instructions regarding the detail,
granularity, content and structure of the data they had to generate. The process contributed to a more reliable and
coherent design delivery process.”
In this EFCA publication, the definition of BIM is taken from ISO 19650:

“The use of a shared digital representation of a built object (including buildings, bridges, roads, process plants, etc.)
to facilitate design, construction and operation processes to form a reliable basis for decisions.”

1 ISO 19650-1:2018 Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling (BIM) -- Information management using
building information modelling -- Part 1: Concepts and principles https://www.iso.org/standard/68078.html
2 EUBIM Task Group. (2017). Handbook for the introduction of Building Information Modelling by the European Public Sector: Strategic action for construction sector performance: driving value,
innovation and growth. www.eubim.eu.
3 ISO/TS 12911:2012(en) Framework for building information modelling (BIM) guidance (https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:ts:12911:ed-1:v1:en) 9