ISO 19650 parties (appointing / lead appointed / appointed)

ISO 19650 defines three contractual roles in the appointment chain, each holding information-management responsibilities. The appointing party commissions and funds the work (the client or asset owner): it sets the information requirements and appoints the team. The lead appointed party leads a delivery team and coordinates information between that team and the appointing party. The appointed party is a team member instructed to produce information.

They map onto the traditional chain: appointing party ≈ client/owner; lead appointed party ≈ the main consultant or main contractor coordinating a team; appointed party ≈ a sub-consultant, subcontractor or supplier. There is typically one appointing party but several lead appointed parties (for example a design lead and a construction lead), each with one or more appointed parties beneath it.

Responsibilities follow the roles. The appointing party defines requirements, appoints teams, sets up the information protocol and approves deliverables. The lead appointed party creates and maintains the team's information procedures, coordinates, develops the master information delivery plan and resolves coordination issues. Each appointed party produces its deliverables and prepares its task information delivery plan. ISO 19650-2 (with its Annex A assignment matrix) is the basis. These are organisational roles, distinct from the individual functions of BIM Manager and BIM Coordinator, and they are carried out by the delivery and task teams. In Italian (UNI 11337) the parties are the committente (appointing), the affidatario principale (lead appointed) and the affidatario (appointed).