Confusing BIM suitability codes and processes

[Christiaan]

Below are two screenshots. One of some traditional drawing status notes of old. And next to it is ISO 19650 BIM status/suitability codes and descriptions (from the UK National Annex). I find some of the ISO suitability codes and processes a little confusing, particularly regarding work in progress. Any thoughts?

 

Work in progress

S0 - Initial Status - as I understand it this is only for internal use only, when editing your model/drawings, and should never appear on models/drawings shared with the rest of the design team. ISO 19650 explicitly states that information in the work in progress state/folder shouldn't be accessible to other task teams. But we often need to discuss work in progress with other team members so how are we meant to issue WIP information to other design team members if no one else has access to our work in progress folder? Should we instead be issuing in the Shared folder with S2 Suitable for Information, as below? If so then what revision code should be used? If it's work in progress then it's meant to have a revision code with a two-integer suffix (e.g. P01.01) but ISO 19650 UK Annex states (NA.4.3 Revision) that this kind of revision code is for work in the Work in Progress folder/state. Which no one else has access to....

 

Quote

 

12.2 The work in progress state

The work in progress state is used for information while it is being developed by its task team. An information container in this state should not be visible or accessible to any other task team. This is particularly important if the CDE solution is implemented through a shared system, for example a shared server or web-portal.

 

 

Shared (non-contractual)

S1 - Suitable for Co-ordination - I find it a little odd that the first status code is 'for co-ordination' when we would typically issue information 'for comment' or 'for approval' before we issue 'for co-ordination'.

S2 - Suitable for Information - simple enough I guess, but no explanation in the ISO 19650 UK Annex defining it accurately.

S3 - Suitable for Review and Comment - see comment above on S1

S4 - Suitable for Stage Approval - what is a "stage"? Can it mean any self-defined stage (e.g. "layout approval" stage). Or does it mean RIBA Work Stages? Or does it simply mean this is suitable for final approval before moving to a 'for construction' status?

S6 - Suitable for PIM (project information model) Authorisation - straightforward, information that's ready to be authorised for management of the construction project

S7 - Suitable for AIM (asset information model) Authorisation - straightforward, information that's ready to be authorised for asset management of the project

 

Published (contractural)

A1, etc - Authorised and accepted - straightforward, approved and accepted information for construction

B1, etc - Partial sign-off (with comments) - straightforward, good way of revising 'for construction' information

 

Published (for AIM acceptance)

CR - As constructed record document - straightforward, 'as built'

 

[fabrica]

slightly clearer , but..... 

 

 

[Christiaan]

Yes, that's a version of 1192, right? I've been keeping my eye on 1192 too, as it is a little more verbose. But trying to make sense of ISO 19650 in its own right, given that 1192 is superseded.

[axhake]

The issue process is long-winded but most of this would go on in the background of the EDMS, hopefully this will explain how the revision and suitability codes work.

 

Things to remember:

1st, the sequence of suitability codes is just a list, documents do not have to be issued in this sequence and not all codes will be applicable to any one project, some companies chose to only use a sub-set of these codes.

 

2nd, ISO 19650 assumed that a Electron Document Management System (EDMS) will be used to manage the Common Data Environment (CDE)

 

3rd, A document to be SHARED cannot have a decimal point revision.

 

Where a new document is initially created in the EDMS it would be assigned:

The revision code of: ( P01.00 ) and a suitability code of ( S0 )

The file has never been issued at this point; thus a (decimal revision of .00) and it’s suitability is Work-In-Progress (WIP)… ( S0 )

 

Example:

Two company’s (“A” and “B”) are working on the same project using something like drop box to share and are required to exchange information between them before delivering to the client.

 

Company “A”

Creates a new document named:  Building Outline – P01.00_S0.vwx

The file has never been issued at this point; thus a (decimal revision of .00) and it’s suitability is Work-In-Progress (WIP)… ( S0 )

 

Company (A) has their first go at defining the building outline and position of doors and windows etc.  Once done they save their file as: Building Outline – P01.01_S0.vwx

Company “A” now looks at their design and makes comments with other internal team members.

 

Company “A” now updates there design with the comment.

Once done they save their file as: Building Outline – P01.02_S0.vwx: 

(at this point they can continue to progress their design)

 

Company (B) needs to get started on their Landscape design so need to see what Company (A) have defined as there Building Outline.

 

Company “A” gets to a point where it is happy to pass there initial design to Company “B”

To ensure Company “A” has traceability of their design the file needs to be SHARED.

(For a document to be share the decimal point revision need to be dropped.)

 

As this is the first time the document has been SHARED it will go out as revision: P01

Company “A” needs to select from the available suitability codes one that best fits the purpose for which they are sharing the file, at this stage ( S2 ) (for information) would be a good choice.

 

They save a copy of their file as: Building Outline – P01_S2.vwx  This file is then issue to Company “B”

 

Once issued; Company “A” copies their file and updates the revision code to the next in sequence ( P02.01 ) and retune it to Work-In-Progress (WIP)  … ( S0 )

 

The current file is now: Building Outline – P02.01_S0.vwx

 

Revision sequence:

    Building Outline – P01.00_S0.vwx        File created in WIP

    Building Outline – P01.01_S0.vwx        First save point in WIP

    Building Outline – P01.02_S0.vwx        Second save point in WIP

    Building Outline – P01_S2.vwx             SHARED (S2 for information)

    Building Outline – P02.01_S0.vwx        File returned to WIP

 

Company “B”

Company “B” received Company “A” file.

They create there own file: Landscaping – P01.00_S0.vwx

They reference Company “A” file in and add their information.

Once they have created there initial design outlines they need to pass there file back to Company “A” so they can see what they are proposing.

 

To ensure Company “A” has traceability of their design the file needs to be SHARED.

For a document to be share the decimal point revision need to be dropped.

 

As this is the first time the document has been shared it will go out as: ( P01 )

Company “A” needs to select from the available suitability codes one that best fits the purpose for which they are sharing the file, at this stage ( S2 ) (for information) would be a good choice at this stage.

 

The file would be issued as: Landscaping – P01_S2.vwx

 

Once issued; Company “B” copies their file and updates the revision code to the next in sequence ( P02.01 ) and retuned it to Work-In-Progress (WIP)  … ( S0 )

 

They save the copy as: Landscaping – P02.01_S0.vwx

 

Revision sequence:

    Landscaping – P01.00_S0.vwx  File created in WIP

    Landscaping – P01.01_S0.vwx  First save point in WIP

    Landscaping – P01_S2.vwx       SHARED (S2 for information)

    Landscaping – P02.01_S0.vwx  File returned to WIP

 

 

Company “A”

Company “A” receives the file form Company “B” and can reference this into their file and see what Company “B” propose,

Company “A” updates the design within their file: ( Building Outline – P02.01_S0.vwx ) with some changes that affect the Landscaping so need to re-issue their updated file to Company “B”.

 

Company “A” saves a copy of their file as: Building Outline – P02_S0.vwx

And issues to Company “B”

 

Once issued; Company “A” copies their file and updates the revision code to the next in sequence ( P03.01 ) and retunes it to Work-In-Progress (WIP)  … ( S0 ) so they can continue working on the design in their file.

 

They save the copy as: Building Outline – P03.01_S0.vwx

 

Revision sequence:

    Building Outline – P01.00_S0.vwx        File created in WIP

    Building Outline – P01.01_S0.vwx        First save point in WIP

    Building Outline – P01.02_S0.vwx        Second save point in WIP

    Building Outline – P01_S2.vwx             SHARED (S2 for information)

    Building Outline – P02.01_S0.vwx        File returned to WIP

    Building Outline – P02_S2.vwx             SHARED (S2 for information)

    Building Outline – P03.01_S0.vwx        File returned to WIP

 

 

Round and round the process goes… as the design progresses the suitability codes of the relevant issues will change and the revision numbers will increase.

 

Only when a document is issued for construction will the revision code change from “Pxx” to “Cxx”; Returning back to “Pxx” should any changes need to be done then re-issued as “Cxx” as needed, see below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by axhake

[shorter]

FYI, here are the latest status codes:

 

 

ISO19650 'The UK 2021 Mix' has modified the status codes in the original ISO19650 documentation and A1, A2, etc, are now used to denote 'Authorised for Stage 1', 'Authorised for Stage 2' etc.  Note they do not use the word 'Approved'.

 

The status codes and revision numbers are supposed to be metadata and not to added to file names when issued to a CDE, so should simply be noted on a drawing sheet or 'model data sheet', and added only when uploading to the CDE.  Bit of a pain this since you will need this on the file name for your own records/sanity.

 

The file naming sequence is now:

 

Project-Originator-Functional Breakdown-Spatial Breakdown-Form-Discipline-Number

 

the rest is meta-data, and status comes first, i.e. -S4-P99

 

 

The underscore is not a permitted characters according to the UK NA 2021.

 

Note the caveats and contradictions that litter the guidance notes for ISO19650-2.  For example, 'XX' and 'ZZ' probably shouldn't be used on complex projects.

[Christiaan]

We make liberal use of XX. We've pretty much standardised use of XX for Spatial Breakdown and sometimes use it for Functional Breakdown, because we want to order drawings by drawing number.

[shorter]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:15 PM, Christiaan said:

We make liberal use of XX. We've pretty much standardised use of XX for Spatial Breakdown and sometimes use it for Functional Breakdown, because we want to order drawings by drawing number.

 

That's fine when the project is limited to a single building.

 

We try not to use XX or ZZ since unless there is only one building, rarely does 'ZZ' adequate describe what the file contains.

 

The later codes suggested by the ISO guidance involves 4 digits, where 099L is the basement floor level and now magically lists above 100L, the ground floor level whereas it didn't when it was 'B1' and the ground floor '00'.

[shorter]

Just now, shorter said:

 

That's fine when the project is limited to a single building.

 

We try not to use XX or ZZ since unless there is only one building, rarely does 'ZZ' adequate describe what the file contains.

 

The later codes suggested by the ISO guidance involves 4 digits, where 099L is the basement floor level and now magically lists above 100L, the ground floor level whereas it didn't when it was 'B1' and the ground floor '00'.

 

Oh, ps, using XX exclusively for the spatial field would not be compliant. 😉

[Christiaan]

2 hours ago, shorter said:

Oh, ps, using XX exclusively for the spatial field would not be compliant. 😉

 Non-compliant but fit for purpose 😉

[Christiaan]

3 hours ago, shorter said:

 

That's fine when the project is limited to a single building.

 

We try not to use XX or ZZ since unless there is only one building, rarely does 'ZZ' adequate describe what the file contains.

 

The later codes suggested by the ISO guidance involves 4 digits, where 099L is the basement floor level and now magically lists above 100L, the ground floor level whereas it didn't when it was 'B1' and the ground floor '00'.

 

We use Functional Breakdown to identify multiple buildings, but we don't use Spatial Breakdown for floor levels (for the reason you identify above). We use drawing numbers to order the floor files correctly. e.g. 099 for basement, 100 for ground, etc.

 

Again, non-compliant, but fit for purpose. It's all academic for us; we're yet to participate in a BIM contract.