Bridging the divide between BIM and smart buildings
18 August 2025
Control not chaos: design change impacts on information management
18 August 2025
There will always be design changes, but that doesn’t mean your information management should collapse into chaos. Lawrence Chapman at Sizewell C (and previously HS2) shares his method for controlling the chaos.
In major infrastructure projects, particularly in highly regulated sectors such as rail or nuclear, design change is inevitable. These changes can arise from engineering optimisation, regulatory requirements, safety enhancements or unforeseen site conditions. While design change is a normal part of the engineering lifecycle, its impact on information management is significant and must be controlled to preserve data integrity, maintain compliance, and ensure alignment across scope, cost and schedule.
There follows a structured approach for managing information changes that result from design change, ensuring that asset registers, the work breakdown structure (WBS), CDE records and associated documentation remain accurate, traceable and auditable.
Design change and information management
A design change is more than a technical modification: it is a change to the scope baseline. Because information deliverables are tied to physical assets and project breakdown structures, design change has a cascading effect:
- WBS – activities, cost codes and deliverables linked to changed or removed scope must be updated.
- Asset register and asset breakdown structure (ABS) – assets may be retired, replaced or added, requiring ID management and metadata updates.
- Model breakdown structure (MBS) – BIM objects and properties must be updated to maintain model-to-asset traceability.
- 4D sequences will need to be reconnected to any newly created assets or links deleted from those assets that have been retired.
- Document metadata and tagging – all records linked to retired asset IDs must be retagged or archived.
- Information delivery plans (MIDP/TIDP) – deliverables may change in content, sequencing or responsibility.
Change management principles for information
The following principles underpin effective management of information during design change:
- Baseline control – all changes are managed against approved scope, cost and schedule baselines.
- Traceability – all changes to assets, documents and data must be fully traceable to the initiating change request.
- No deletion policy – retired assets and documents are not deleted; they are archived with status changes for audit and historical reference.
- Single source of truth – the CDE is the authoritative environment for revised and superseded information.
- Cross-domain coordination – information changes are coordinated across engineering, project controls, quality and operations teams.
The information management change management workflow
The workflow integrates with the project’s overarching change control process, but focuses on information artefacts.
Step 1 – Change identification:
- A design change request or engineering change notice is raised.
- The request includes the Information Impact Assessment Section, identifying affected WBS elements, assets, documents, and models.
Step 2 – Impact assessment:
- Asset impact – identify assets to be retired, added or modified.
- WBS impact – determine changes to scope elements and their hierarchy.
- Document impact – locate all documents tagged to affected asset IDs.
- Model impact – identify model elements requiring property updates or replacement.
- Information delivery impact – assess changes to MIDP/TIDP deliverables.
Step 3 – Approval:
- All changes are presented to the change control board.
- Approval is conditional on a documented plan for updating affected information artefacts.
Step 4 – Implementation:
- Asset register update – retired assets are assigned a 'superseded' status; new asset IDs are issued in line with the Asset Identification Standard.
- WBS update – the WBS is updated, re-baselined and synchronised with cost and schedule systems.
- Document retagging – documents are updated in the CDE; metadata changes are tracked.
- Model update – BIM models are updated, ensuring correct asset IDs and classification codes.
- Information delivery plan update – MIDP and TIDP are revised and issued.
Step 5 – Assurance and verification:
- Data quality checks – verify that no live deliverables reference retired asset IDs.
- Cross-reference audit – confirm WBS-ABS-MBS alignment.
- Final sign-off – employer’s information manager confirms readiness before the change is closed.
Visual workflow
The following diagram illustrates the end-to-end process for managing information changes resulting from a design change. It shows how the workflow progresses from identification through assessment, approval, implementation, assurance and baseline closure.
Roles and responsibilities
- Lead information manager – owns the information management change management process; ensures governance and compliance with standards.
- Information coordinators – execute document and model updates; ensure metadata integrity.
- Discipline leads – identify asset and scope changes within their domain.
- Document control – manages document re-tagging and archiving in the CDE.
- BIM manager – updates and validates model elements and properties.
- Project controls – aligns cost and schedule with revised WBS.
Tools and enablers
- Change register – tracks all approved changes with cross-references to assets, WBS and documents.
- CDE search and metadata filters – enables identification of affected documents.
- Model-to-asset ID mapping tools – ensures rapid detection of model impacts.
- Automated reports – detect discrepancies between WBS, ABS and MBS.
Benefits of a controlled change process
- Regulatory compliance – maintains accuracy of safety case, commissioning records and operational documentation.
- Reduced rework – prevents propagation of outdated or invalid data.
- Cost and schedule integrity – ensures WBS and related controls remain aligned with actual scope.
- Operational readiness – guarantees asset and documentation accuracy for handover.
Design changes are inevitable, but uncontrolled information changes are not. By embedding a dedicated information management change process within the wider change control framework, projects can maintain integrity, traceability and assurance of their information assets. This approach ensures that the project remains compliant, efficient and ready for safe, effective operation.
The opinions expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his employer.
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