29-01-2021
Part 5: Application to projects 2
In this blog series I try to explain how VAN AKEN was the first architectural firm in the European Union has received a KitemarkTM certificate for BIM Level 2 in accordance with the ISO 19650. I will describe our findings during our route to a KitemarkTM certificate and hopefully encourage multiple agencies to follow us in obtaining a KitemarkTM certificate for BIM Level 2 according to ISO 19650.
If you missed my previous four blogs of this series, read it here.
Just like the client, the contractors must also prepare documents before starting the production of information. It is going too far to cover all these documents in this blog, but I will single a few out. In a tender, an information supply team must return tender documents to the client. These tender documents contain some new parts that we do not yet know in the Netherlands (at least I had never heard of this before our course, see blog 1). The tender documents are all intended to provide the client with more insight into how the information delivery team intends to meet its information requirements.
The ISO 19650-2 explains in detail what should be in the various documents, however the major disadvantage I experienced was that it was difficult to find really good examples of some documents, if they were there at all. Even in the course that we had followed (see blog part 1) they were not allowed to show specific examples, due to property rights. So I was left on my own to draw up these specific documents in such a way that they complied with the ISO standard (and ultimately also the audit). I had found some brief examples on the internet, however, they were based on the PAS 1192 (the English predecessor of the ISO 19650-2: 2018), so they were not entirely satisfactory.
Another major part of the ISO standard is the Common Data Environment. The CDE must be drawn up by the client or by a third party appointed by the client in accordance with ISO 19650-2. We always try to ensure that the CDE is set up under the banner of the client, so that the client is the owner of the CDE. This does not mean that they have to set up the CDE themselves, we can of course arrange that for them. The reason for this is that in this way the client is at all times the owner of the data on the CDE and therefore this data is also safe. Should a third party manage and facilitate the CDE, and be no longer active on the project, there is always a risk (for example, of blocking access to the CDE) if they are the owner of the CDE.
The exact format of the CDE is not covered in the ISO 19650-2: 2018, only the main format and procedures to exchange data between the main folders. Working with these so-called approval procedures at the CDE seems to take some getting used to for most people. It is a new way of dealing with data that is very clearly prescribed by the ISO standard. As a result, I usually ensure that during the mobilization phase (testing of, among other things, production methods and procedures before the actual production of information starts) there is an extensive description of these approval procedures on the CDE, supplemented with small demonstration videos.
This is the last blog about the experiences we had on our way to Kitemark certification. I hope it was interesting to you as a reader. Keep following us!
For more information, please feel free to contact me: bart.jeurissen@vanaken-cae.nl
