What the EIR is
The Exchange Information Requirements (EIR) is the document you issue to every appointed party (architects, engineers, contractors) at the point of procurement. It tells them exactly what information they must produce, in what format, to what level of detail, and by when.
It is a contractual document. Appended to or referenced in the appointment agreement, its requirements become binding on the appointed party once signed. The EIR is where you, as the client, set the terms of the information you'll receive, and it's the single best lever you have over whether the data that lands at handover is actually usable.
A note on the name. This was historically the "Employer's Information Requirements" under PAS 1192-2. When ISO 19650 landed in 2018 it became "Exchange Information Requirements", to make clear it governs the exchange of information between parties, not just employer-to-contractor. Both terms mean the same document; you'll still hear both.
Where it sits in the cascade
ISO 19650 organises information requirements as a cascade, from organisational strategy down to individual deliverables. As a developer who is both client and asset owner, you sit at the top, and you write four of the five layers.
Organisational Information Requirements
Your top-level statement of what information your organisation needs across all projects and assets. Written once; cascades to every project.
Asset Information Requirements
Derived from the OIR. The information you need to operate and maintain each specific asset once it's handed over to you.
Project Information Requirements
Derived from the OIR and AIR. The specific questions each capital project must answer through information delivery, at each decision point.
Exchange Information Requirements
The contractual instruction to your appointed parties. Tells them exactly what to produce, in what format, and when. This is the document this guide is about.
BIM Execution Plan
The response you receive. Your appointed parties confirm how they will meet your EIR. You write the OIR, AIR, PIR and EIR; they write the BEP.
Who writes it, and when to issue
As the developer and appointing party, you (or your BIM advisor / information manager) prepare the EIR, and you write it before going to tender, so information requirements are built into the appointment from the start rather than bolted on after.
- At tender stage: issue it as part of the tender package, so bidders can price BIM resourcing into their fee.
- At appointment: reference it in the contract, so the requirements become legally binding.
- One per appointment: typically a separate EIR for the design team, the main contractor, and any specialist subcontractors.
What you get back is a BIM Execution Plan. The pre-appointment BEP arrives with the tender and demonstrates capability; the post-appointment BEP follows within an agreed window after award and confirms exactly how the team will comply with your EIR.
What's inside an EIR
ISO 19650-2 (Clause 5.2) requires three things of an EIR: information requirements, information delivery standards, and information production methods and procedures. The template builds those out across ten sections, then extends into Level of Information Need, security, and acceptance.
Project information
The project context: details, the appointing party, and the purpose statement that ties the EIR into the contract.
Organisational Information Requirements
The organisational objectives that depend on information from this project (lifecycle cost, regulatory compliance, FM-system population) and the information each needs.
Asset Information Requirements
The asset data you need at handover, by asset group, with the data format and target FM system. The most important section: if data isn't specified here, contractors won't capture it.
Project Information Requirements
The information exchange milestones and discipline-specific requirements: what gets produced at each stage, and the specialist outputs beyond the standard matrix.
Information standards
The standards governing how information is produced: ISO 19650, Uniclass 2015, the naming convention, and the technical parameters (coordinate system, units, software, IFC schema).
Information production methods & procedures
The BEP you require in response, the coordination and clash-detection expectations, the federation strategy, and the delivery planning (MIDP, TIDPs, RACI).
Common Data Environment requirements
The CDE platform, the four information states, and the configuration rules. Align this with your own systems so data flows into your AIM/CAFM without manual re-entry.
Level of Information Need
The LOD/LOI required at each stage. At minimum, LOD 500 (as-built, site-verified) at handover, with the LOI fields matched to your CAFM data schema.
Security requirements
The ISO 19650-5 security triage and sensitivity classification. Standard for most commercial work; Sensitive or above for assets with critical systems.
Acceptance criteria
How you'll evaluate whether deliverables meet your requirements. Without clear criteria, rejecting a non-compliant submission is an argument, not a decision.
The sections that decide everything
You can write all ten well, but five of them carry most of the outcome, and they're the ones to get right before anything else.
| Section | Why it decides the outcome |
|---|---|
| 3 · AIR | If the data isn't specified here, contractors won't capture it. This is your FM system at handover. |
| 7 · CDE | Align it with your systems and data flows straight into your AIM/CAFM, no manual re-entry. |
| 8 · LOIN | Sets LOD/LOI per stage. Specify LOD 500 at handover and the LOI fields that match your CAFM schema. |
| 9 · Security | The triage that decides how tightly the whole project's information is controlled. |
| 10 · Acceptance | The criteria that let you reject what doesn't meet the bar. Without it, you can't. |
How to complete it
The template carries grey guidance notes inside every section. The drill is straightforward:
- Complete Section 1 with the project-specific details.
- Review the OIR/AIR/PIR sections and link them to your standalone OIR, AIR and PIR documents.
- Complete the information standards: software, coordinate system, classification.
- Specify your CDE platform.
- Populate the LOD/LOI matrix to match your CAFM data requirements.
- Delete all the grey guidance text before issuing to appointed parties.
- Attach it to the appointment contract, or reference it in the tender documents.
That last point matters more than it sounds: the notes are written for you, the author. Leaving them in tells every bidder the document was never finished, and a half-finished EIR produces half-finished deliverables.
Want the template behind this guide?
The full EIR: 10 sections, the OIR/AIR/PIR structure, LOD/LOI matrix, security triage and acceptance criteria. Editable, with guidance notes. Free.