ISO 19650 in plain English
ISO 19650 is a pair of process standards for managing information with building information modelling. Part 2 is the delivery phase people usually mean. It is not a modelling guide, a software shortlist, or a clash-tolerance table.
The roles, without the diagram
The appointing party says what information it needs and appoints others to produce it. Lead appointed parties and appointed parties produce information containers to an agreed standard. An information manager — a function, not always a job title — looks after the CDE process. Those words matter because “the BIM person” is not a role the standard recognises.
What has to exist before authoring
- Information requirements that say what is needed, when, and why.
- An information standard: naming, status, classification, and what “done” means.
- A method and procedure for the CDE: who can move a container between states.
- A responsibility split, often captured in a BIM execution plan or equivalent plan of work.
What people pretend the standard says
It does not require a named piece of software. It does not set a millimetre clash tolerance. It does not say every project must exchange IFC. It does require that exchange formats, naming and acceptance are agreed rather than discovered at the first upload.
Official text stays with ISO and BSI. UK guidance is published by the UK BIM Framework. This page is a reading aid, not a substitute for either.
Last checked 2 October 2026. Official requirements stay in ISO 19650 and the UK BIM Framework. This is original guidance.