This video explains what Organizational Information Requirements (OIR) are and why they matter in ISO 19650. The written guide below covers how the OIR acts as the strategic north star for project information management, why different owner types need different organisational information, and how to define, rationalise, and structure OIR so that every project decision aligns with the long-term goals of the organisation.
Why the OIR is the starting point for everything
Before a project defines what models to produce, what properties to check, or what milestones to hit, someone needs to answer a more fundamental question: what information does this organisation actually need to run its business? That is what the Organizational Information Requirements, or OIR, is for. It defines the high-level strategic information that the appointing party needs to support decision-making, manage risk, maintain assets, and achieve their operational goals. Without it, project teams are making assumptions about what matters, and those assumptions often lead to wasted effort, misaligned deliverables, and information that nobody actually uses once the project is complete.
The OIR is different for every type of owner because every organisation has different priorities. A hospital needs information about clinical space capacity, infection control systems, and medical equipment lifecycle data. A casino operator cares about security surveillance infrastructure, cash flow management systems, and regulatory compliance. A school needs classroom capacity data to plan student intake. A zoo prioritises animal welfare, habitat maintenance, and conservation-related information. While all of these organisations need strong facilities management data, their strategic priorities are fundamentally different, and those differences should shape every information requirement that follows. When the OIR is defined well, it becomes the foundation that drives the Project Information Requirements (PIR) and the Asset Information Requirements (AIR), ensuring a traceable chain from organisational strategy all the way through to specific project deliverables.
The challenge is that defining an OIR is not something most organisations do regularly. It requires identifying the functional components of the business, understanding what information each department needs, and rationalising those needs into a unified set of requirements that can guide project delivery. Finance, IT, facilities management, operations, and compliance may all need different data, and the OIR must integrate those perspectives into a coherent whole. Without a structured approach, organisations either include too much and overwhelm project teams, or include too little and end up with gaps that only surface years later when the asset is in operation. Templates and examples make this process significantly easier by providing a starting point that guides the right questions and ensures ISO 19650 compliance from the outset.
How to create an effective OIR
- Identify high-level business activities – Map out the core operational activities of the organisation, from day-to-day facility management to long-term strategic planning, so you understand what functions the information needs to support.
- Define the purpose of each information need – For every piece of information the organisation requires, clarify why it is needed. Is it for regulatory compliance, cost management, safety, sustainability, or operational efficiency? Each requirement should serve a clear function.
- Consider the owner type – Recognise that different appointing parties have fundamentally different priorities. Use examples and case studies to understand how organisations similar to yours have structured their OIR to support their specific operational goals.
- Rationalise across departments – Streamline information needs from finance, IT, facilities, operations, and other departments into a unified OIR that avoids duplication and ensures consistency across the organisation.
- Align with ISO 19650 structure – Ensure the OIR follows the standard’s framework so that it can flow naturally into the PIR and AIR, creating a traceable hierarchy from organisational goals to specific exchange information requirements.
- Use templates to accelerate the process – Start from a structured template that provides the right questions and framework, then complete it collaboratively with the owner and key stakeholders.
- Keep the OIR as a living document – Revisit and adjust the OIR as the project evolves, ensuring it stays aligned with any changes to the organisation’s strategic direction or operational priorities.
What you’ll learn
- What an OIR is – How the Organizational Information Requirements define the strategic information an organisation needs to support decision-making, operations, and long-term business goals.
- Why different owners need different OIRs – How a zoo, casino, hospital, school, or asset manager each have distinct operational priorities that shape fundamentally different information requirements.
- The consequences of a missing OIR – How projects without clear organisational requirements end up with misaligned teams, wasted effort, and information that does not support the owner’s actual needs.
- From OIR to PIR and AIR – How the OIR flows into the Asset Information Requirements and Project Information Requirements, creating a connected hierarchy that ensures every project deliverable traces back to a genuine organisational need.
- Templates and examples – How ready-made OIR templates with guided questions make the process faster, more consistent, and compliant with ISO 19650 from the start.
Common questions
Who is responsible for creating the OIR?
The OIR is the responsibility of the appointing party, which is typically the client or asset owner. However, because defining strategic information requirements is not something most organisations do every day, they often work with an information manager or consultant who guides them through the process. The key is that the OIR reflects the organisation’s genuine operational needs, not assumptions made by the project delivery team.
What happens if a project does not have an OIR?
Without an OIR, project teams have no clear direction on what information the organisation actually needs. Requirements get defined reactively based on what has been done on previous projects or what individual team members think is important. This leads to deliverables that may be technically competent but do not support the owner’s operational or strategic goals, which means the information collected during the project may never be used once the asset is in operation.
How detailed should an OIR be?
The OIR should be strategic, not granular. It defines the types of information the organisation needs and why, not the specific properties of individual model elements. That level of detail comes later in the PIR, AIR, and EIR. Think of the OIR as answering the question “what does this organisation need to know to run effectively?” rather than “what data should be in a wall object in a BIM model.”
Can the same OIR be used across multiple projects?
Yes. Because the OIR reflects the organisation’s strategic needs rather than project-specific requirements, much of it can be reused across projects. An organisation that owns multiple hospitals, for example, will have consistent information needs around clinical space, equipment lifecycle, and regulatory compliance. The OIR provides that consistent foundation, while the PIR and AIR are tailored to each specific project. Using templates that can be imported across projects makes this reuse straightforward.
Explore further
- OIR: Organizational Information Requirements – The full expert course lesson with detailed walkthroughs and examples.
- EIR, PIR, and BEP documents with Plannerly – How the complete set of information requirement documents connects and can be created from templates.
- ISO 19650 standards explained in one hour – A comprehensive overview of the full standard and how each component, including the OIR, fits into the bigger picture.
- How Plannerly supports ISO 19650 workflows worldwide – How the platform implements ISO 19650 across international projects with localised templates and structured workflows.