New initiative will ease information handover
Information handover is a major part of any big capital project. Unfortunately, it’s often inconsistent, inefficient, and slow. CFIHOS (Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification), a new IOGP project, has set out to address this with a standard that adds value across the supply chain. It makes handovers easier, saves time and money, and supports reliability and safety throughout the lifecycle of a facility.
Simply put, “it’s a set of rules that lets computers talk to each other in the same language. It’s simple in concept but not quite so simple to do in practice,” explains Peter Townend, project leader.
“However, the potential benefits are absolutely transformative for the information supply chain, not just saving time and money, but changing the way we work together.”
“The CFIHOS programme is creating a practical standardized specification for information handover that works for everyone in the information supply chain – operators, contractors, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers. It ensures that users have the information they need to operate, maintain and decommission a facility, can share it easily with other users/systems and can find it quickly,” he added.
While the current focus is on capital project handover the Standard can be used at all stages of a facility’s lifecycle from design to decommissioning – increasing the potential benefits even further.
Over 40 member organizations are participating. They include some of the world’s largest operators, not just in oil and gas industry but in other process industries – as well as engineering contractors, software providers, equipment suppliers and academic institutions.
The CFIHOS project began in 2012, managed by Industry group USPI. Governance and development were transferred to IOGP this year – becoming Joint Improvement Project (JIP)36.
The project is closely aligned with the JIP33 programme. The CFIHOS Data Model and Reference Data Library (RDL) are foundational elements in the development of the JIP33 Specifications, especially Data Sheets and Information Requirement Specification (IRS).
