ISO 15926
Process Plant Lifecycle Semantic Model

ISO 15926 is the international standard for process plant lifecycle data integration. It defines a semantic data model (Part 2), a reference data library / RDL (Part 4), and integration patterns (Parts 7-9) that let process plant engineering, procurement, construction, and operations systems exchange data over the full lifecycle. Defined as an OWL (Web Ontology Language) ontology so machines can reason over relationships. Maintained by ISO Technical Committee 184, Subcommittee 4, Working Group 3.

ISO 15926 is the broad semantic data model for the full process plant lifecycle. CFIHOS 2.0 sits on top of ISO 15926 and tightens the specification for the specific use case of EPC-to-operations handover. CFIHOS extends the ISO 15926 Part 4 RDL with capital-facilities-specific classes (asset handover register schema, equipment lifecycle attributes, operations-readiness fields) and prescribes which classes / attributes are mandatory at handover. CFIHOS-compliant data is automatically ISO 15926-compliant. ISO 15926 covers the broader scope; CFIHOS handles the handover-specific subset. Most asset owners use both: ISO 15926 as the underlying semantic foundation, CFIHOS for the handover-specific deliverable specification.

Not directly. ISO 15926 is voluntary; adoption depends on owner-operator and EPC contractor specification. However, increasingly major owner-operators (Aramco, ADNOC, BP, Shell, Equinor, Petrobras) specify ISO 15926-compliant handover as a project requirement. Indian PSU operators (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC, GAIL) increasingly reference ISO 15926 in their asset information management standards. EPC contractors that cannot deliver ISO 15926-aligned data progressively lose competitive position on tier-1 owner-operator projects.

Three layers of adoption. (1) Reference: cite ISO 15926 Part 4 RDL class names in your asset register so different systems use the same vocabulary. (2) Conformance: emit asset register data as ISO 15926-compliant RDF / OWL serialisation that ISO 15926-aware platforms (AVEVA AIM, Cognite Data Fusion, Bentley iTwin) ingest natively. (3) Integration: use ISO 15926 Part 7 / 9 integration patterns to connect distributed systems via ISO 15926 facade APIs. Pathnovo supports all three layers: extraction output is RDL-mapped (layer 1), serialisable as RDF / OWL (layer 2), and accessible via ISO 15926 facade API (layer 3).

RDL = Reference Data Library. Defined in ISO 15926 Part 4. Contains thousands of pre-defined object classes (PUMP, VESSEL, INSTRUMENT, FLANGE, VALVE, COMPRESSOR, COLUMN, EXCHANGER, etc.) with standard attributes (e.g. PUMP has design_pressure, design_temperature, materials, capacity, head, NPSH) and units (e.g. design_pressure is in barg or psig per RDL convention). Cross-vendor consistency: when AVEVA emits 'pump' and Hexagon emits 'pump', both reference the same RDL class so downstream systems treat them identically. RDL is publicly available and updated through the ISO 15926 working group methodology.

Pathnovo's extraction output is mapped to ISO 15926 Part 4 RDL classes natively. Each extracted tag, equipment, line, instrument, valve, weld joint, mill cert heat number, HAZOP node resolves to an RDL class instance with RDL-standardised property names and units. Output serialised as RDF / OWL (ISO 15926 native), CFIHOS 2.0 XML (CFIHOS native, also ISO 15926-compliant by extension), or DEXPI XML (P&ID exchange specifically). Same underlying extraction; different serialisation formats per downstream platform requirements.

Strong support: AVEVA AIM (native ISO 15926 ingestion), Cognite Data Fusion (RDF graph backend natively ISO 15926-aligned), Bentley iTwin (ISO 15926 + CFIHOS 2.0 native), Hexagon HxGN SDx2 (ISO 15926 + DEXPI ingestion), Siemens COMOS (ISO 15926 export). Partial support: SAP Asset Intelligence Network (ISO 15926 connector available), IBM Maximo (ISO 15926 adapter via partner ecosystem). For platforms with only partial support, Pathnovo's ISO 15926 facade (Part 9 pattern) can wrap them with ISO 15926-compliant API responses.

Yes, via the ISO 15926 working group methodology defined in Part 6. New classes (e.g. for LNG-specific equipment, hydrogen-specific safety devices, pharmaceutical GMP-specific equipment) are proposed to ISO TC 184/SC 4 WG 3 with technical justification, reviewed, and added to subsequent RDL releases. Pathnovo participates in industry-specific extension proposals when client engagements require RDL classes not yet in the published library.