As Ireland moves toward its 2030 goal of a fully digitalised construction sector, the BIM mandate is transforming from a policy objective into a practical reality for public works. With Milestone 6 now bringing contractors and supply chains into scope for projects over €10m, the focus shifts to the international standards underpinning this change. DAVITT LAMON, Head of Building Information Modelling (BIM), NSAI, explores the evolution of the ISO 19650 series, the benefits of formal certification, and why industry participation in the current public consultation is vital for shaping the future of digital delivery in Ireland.

Irish BIM Mandate

The Irish BIM mandate now forms part of the government’s wider strategy to digitalise the construction sector by 2030. In practice, it uses public procurement to help drive that change across a market where the public sector represents at least 25% of construction activity. The rollout began in January 2024, when BIM requirements were first introduced for consultants engaged on public works projects valued above €100m. The published adoption timeline then set out a phased expansion over four years, extending those requirements to lower-value projects and, in time, to contractors and the wider supply chain. By 01 January 2026, the process had reached Milestone 6, bringing contractor and supply chain requirements into scope for projects above €10m.

At the centre of the mandate is a clear set of core requirements. Where BIM requirements are included in public works, they draw on the ISO 19650 series, alongside Uniclass, IFC and ICMS, giving public projects a more consistent and standardised framework for digital delivery.

This matters because digital delivery is now closely tied to better consistency, stronger productivity and improved outcomes across public sector projects. It is also increasingly relevant to the national challenge of delivering infrastructure and housing in a more efficient, transparent and reliable way.

Why ISO 19650 matters

At the heart of the mandate is ISO 19650, the international series of standards for managing information throughout the life of a built asset. It provides a structured framework for organising and digitising information about buildings and civil engineering works, including information management using BIM.

Its importance lies in the fact that information management is not simply a technical exercise. It provides a clear and standardised way to manage how information is created, shared, and maintained, helping teams work more consistently and collaboratively throughout the project lifecycle.

This matters because better information supports better delivery. A standards-based approach underpins consistency, strengthens collaboration and helps projects to be delivered more efficiently and effectively, giving clients greater confidence in the processes behind digital delivery.

In the Irish context, this is especially significant as public bodies and their supply chains respond to the BIM mandate. A more structured approach to information management helps lay the foundation for stronger productivity, improved decision-making and better outcomes across infrastructure and housing delivery.

Revising ISO 19650 Series

Attention now turns to the proposed revisions to ISO 19650 Parts 1 and 2. These drafts mark the first proposed updates to the series since the first editions were published in 2018, and they are now moving through international review and public consultation. At this stage, they remain proposals only, and the current editions still stand until any revised versions are formally agreed and published.

For Part 1, the direction of travel is towards a clearer and more usable framework. The draft places greater emphasis on the whole life of the asset, gives more prominence to the purpose of information, simplifies terminology, and reorganises the text into a more logical structure. It also aims to align more clearly with related information management standards and with the wider ISO 19650 series. For Part 2, the proposed change is more structural. Instead of focusing solely on the delivery phase, the revised draft sets out a single information management process that applies across the asset lifecycle. Under the proposal, the existing processes in Parts 2 and 3 are brought together into a unified nine-step process, while Part 3 is reshaped to provide implementation guidance.

For many organisations, this does not mean starting again from scratch. Much of the day-to-day activity around information production remains familiar, but the draft introduces a clearer structure and a shift in language towards information management and information production. Taken together, the proposed revisions aim to make the standard easier to follow, easier to explain and better suited to whole-life digital delivery.

Have your say

With the proposed revisions now out for comment, the focus shifts from awareness to participation. The public consultation is open through Your Standards Your Say at www.nsainep.ie, where the draft versions of ISO/DIS 19650-1 and ISO/DIS 19650-2 are available to read and review. Both drafts are listed on the portal with a closing date of 05 May 2026.

The consultation gives Irish stakeholders a direct route into the standards process, allowing them to review the drafts and submit comments that can help inform Ireland’s input to the relevant standards bodies.

For Irish industry, that creates a timely opportunity. Rather than waiting for revised standards to arrive, organisations can now help shape the direction of the final text and ensure that the Irish experience of implementation is reflected in the international discussion.

Bringing industry together

That wider discussion came into focus on 22 April 2026, when NSAI, Build Digital and the Infrastructure Division of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER) jointly hosted Digital Delivery for Ireland’s Infrastructure at NSAI’s offices in Dublin. The half-day event was designed to bring together standards experts, certified organisations and public sector leaders to explore how ISO 19650 is evolving and how it can be applied in practice across public infrastructure delivery.

The programme was structured to move from policy and standards into practical delivery. It opened with a welcome from NSAI and an introduction from Build Digital and the Infrastructure Division, before moving into a session on the proposed revisions to ISO 19650 Parts 1 and 2. An open forum then gave attendees the chance to raise questions and discuss the implications of the draft changes.

The second half of the morning turned to implementation. Sessions on practical pathways to ISO 19650 certification and the delivery of the Irish BIM mandate brought the discussion back to what these standards mean in real project settings, including public works. That gave the event a clear purpose: not simply to explain what was changing, but to connect consultation, certification and adoption in a way that was directly relevant to organisations working across Ireland’s built environment.

Pathways to certification

Certification also emerged as one of the clearest ways for organisations to move from awareness of ISO 19650 into practical implementation. At NSAI, certification is positioned as a formal, third-party assessment of an organisation’s ability to manage information in line with ISO 19650-2. The process moves from application and readiness assessment through audit, review and annual surveillance, helping organisations show that their information management processes are being applied in practice.

Its value is increasingly backed by evidence. Irish research on organisations certified under a national ISO 19650-2 scheme found that 69% reported improved consistency and quality in project documentation, while 69% also pointed to it giving them a more structured approach to continuous improvement.

That helps explain why certification featured so strongly at the event. It was presented not as an end in itself, but as part of a broader commitment to quality, transparency and continuous improvement. The discussion also pointed to the practical supports that can help organisations on that journey, including Information Management Plans and additional guidance resources developed by Build Digital to support more consistent implementation of ISO 19650 and the Irish BIM mandate in real project settings, including public works.

Driving adoption together

The event also highlighted the continuing collaboration among NSAI, Build Digital and the Infrastructure Division of DPER, bringing together policy direction, standards leadership and practical implementation support. That work has already produced discounted BIM standards packs and the recently published Information Manager (BIM) Role Profiles report, helping to improve access to standards and strengthen clarity around information management roles in practice.

Looking ahead, Build Digital said the findings of its annual industry survey would soon be published as an interactive dashboard on its website, providing a further snapshot of digital transformation across Ireland’s construction and built environment sector.

Click the link to learn more about this: Digital transformation advances as Build Digital launches 2025 annual survey results.

The message from the event is clear: now is the time for industry to have its say on the proposed revisions, to strengthen adoption of the standards, and to embed better information management in practice across housing and infrastructure delivery.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Those wishing to contribute can access the draft standards and submit comments through Your Standards Your Say at www.nsainep.ie until 05 May 2026, while organisations interested in certification can find further information at www.nsai.ie/BIM