By Rudd van Deventer, who heads up our ISO19650 working group.
The adoption of ISO 19650 has to go through a process under the control of the SABS. It needs to be adopted by a Technical Committee who will manage the process from ISO to South African National Standard (SANS). In the case of ISO 19650 the Technical Committee that should have taken up the issue, Technical Committee 59, responsible for Construction Standards was very busy and "had no interest in adopting either of these two standards". Because of the implications to the South African Construction Industry it was decided that an alternative part would be taken. With TC59's agreement Technical Committee 267 took up the project and have been working on the adoption as a SANS. TC 267 are responsible for Facilities Management.
ISO 19650-1 : 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.
ISO 19650-2 : Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling (BIM) — Information management using building information modelling — Part 2: Delivery phase of the assets.
ISO 19650-3 : Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling (BIM) — Information management using building information modelling — Part 3: Operational phase of the assets to give them their full title.
As previously reported ISO 19650 Parts 1 through to 2 have been balloted and approved on by SABS TC267 and are in the process of adoption - they are at the Enquiry stage designated by the Draft South African Standards (DSS) code. ISO 19650 Part 1 has been published for comment and the period has closed. ISO 19650 Part 2 has not been published yet for comment.
ISO 19650 Part 2 is the most important section as it includes the National Annex that describes how South Africa will implement the International Standard. The annex transitions terminology and processes from the international standard to local conditions and practices. The National Annex will require a lot of work as it is likely to be controversial and has far-reaching impact on contracts and how they are managed. This has been a point of contention in the UK and other countries as it depends on how the terminology is interpreted in Law, by Lawyers who are not trained in construction.
ISO 19650 Part 3 is to be balloted on shortly.
Interest is building in the adoption of ISO 19650 as a SANS. The preparation of the National Annex will be a giant task and will require a lot of input. It is hoped that the BIMcommUNITY will provide input and support as it moves forward.
If you are interested in contributing to the National Annex and/or being a part of the ISO19650 working group, please send a mail to angela@bimcommunity.africa