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CFIHOS — the Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification — is an industry standard for defining and exchanging structured asset information across capital projects. It provides a common framework for what asset data and documentation should be delivered, how information should be structured, and how equipment classes, properties, and reference data should be represented.
CFIHOS addresses one of the most persistent challenges in capital projects: information delivered by multiple EPCs, suppliers, and contractors may use different naming conventions, data structures, classifications, and formats. This creates significant mapping, validation, and reconciliation work before information can be loaded into an owner-operator's systems.
By establishing common information requirements and reference data, CFIHOS helps project participants exchange asset information in a more consistent and machine-readable form and improves the transition from project execution to operations.
CFIHOS stands for Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification.
It is designed specifically around the exchange and handover of information for capital facilities. Rather than defining only a file format, CFIHOS provides a structured framework for describing the information associated with assets, equipment, documents, classes, properties, and relationships.
This allows an owner-operator, EPC, and equipment supplier to work against a more consistent definition of what information is required and how that information should be represented.
CFIHOS works by providing a common information model and reference data that project participants can use when defining, producing, validating, and exchanging asset information.
An owner-operator can use CFIHOS as the basis for defining information requirements for a project. Those requirements can then flow through the EPC and supplier chain so that the parties responsible for producing information understand the expected structure, classification, properties, and relationships.
During project execution, information can be checked against those requirements rather than waiting until final handover to discover missing, inconsistent, or incorrectly structured data.
At handover, the objective is therefore not simply to transfer documents and spreadsheets. It is to deliver structured information that can be understood and consumed by the owner-operator's downstream systems and processes.
This makes CFIHOS particularly relevant to document handover packages, where documentation and structured asset data must ultimately be transferred from project organizations into operations.
The CFIHOS data model defines how information about a facility and its assets can be represented consistently.
Instead of allowing every project participant to describe equipment and associated information using its own structure, the model establishes common concepts and relationships that can be used across organizations and software systems.
The data model supports the representation of information such as:
This is important because a successful digital handover depends on more than transferring files. The receiving organization must be able to understand what each information object represents and how it relates to the rest of the facility.
A Master Tag Register (MTR), for example, provides the governed register of tagged equipment for a facility, while CFIHOS provides a standardized framework that can be used to describe and exchange information associated with those assets.
The CFIHOS Reference Data Library (RDL) provides standardized reference data used to describe facility information consistently.
The RDL includes classes and properties that allow organizations to describe equipment and technical information using common definitions rather than relying entirely on project-specific terminology.
For example, different suppliers may use different names for similar equipment types or properties. Mapping these variations manually becomes difficult when thousands of tags and large volumes of supplier information are involved.
Using standardized reference data makes it easier to align information from multiple parties and reduces ambiguity during information exchange.
The RDL therefore complements the CFIHOS data model: the data model defines how information is structured and related, while the RDL provides standardized reference concepts used within that structure.
CFIHOS is particularly important at the transition between project execution and operations.
Throughout a capital project, asset information is created by engineering contractors, equipment manufacturers, package vendors, subcontractors, and other project participants. Each party may use different engineering applications, document systems, templates, and internal data structures.
Without common information requirements, these differences often become visible only near handover, when the owner-operator must reconcile information before it can be loaded into operational systems.
CFIHOS moves this requirement earlier in the lifecycle by giving projects a standardized basis for defining and exchanging information.
The resulting handover can include structured equipment information, technical properties, documentation references, classifications, and relationships that can be validated before acceptance.
This is closely connected to data quality management: CFIHOS defines how information should be represented, while data quality processes determine whether the information delivered against those requirements is complete, valid, consistent, and fit for its intended use.
CFIHOS requirements can be incorporated into the information requirements established by an owner-operator for a capital project.
The EPC contractor then has an important role in translating those requirements into project execution and ensuring that relevant requirements flow down to suppliers and subcontractors.
Equipment suppliers may therefore need to provide structured technical information in addition to traditional engineering documentation.
This creates a direct connection between CFIHOS and supplier data management. Supplier data must be collected, checked, classified, and associated with the correct equipment before the final information handover can be considered complete.
The earlier these requirements are communicated to suppliers, the easier it is to prevent missing attributes, inconsistent classifications, and late-stage information remediation.
CFIHOS can be used as a standardized foundation for defining the asset information an owner-operator expects to receive.
Project-specific requirements still determine which information is required, when it must be delivered, who is responsible for providing it, and what acceptance criteria apply.
The value of CFIHOS is that these requirements do not have to rely entirely on proprietary definitions. A common information framework makes it easier for owner-operators, EPCs, suppliers, and software providers to interpret the same requirements consistently.
This distinction is important: CFIHOS provides a standardized framework for information exchange, while the project determines the specific information delivery requirements and acceptance criteria.
CFIHOS and ISO 15926 are related to the broader objective of making industrial asset information interoperable, but they should not be treated as interchangeable standards.
ISO 15926 provides a framework for the representation and integration of lifecycle information for process plants and related facilities.
CFIHOS is focused more directly on practical information requirements and information exchange for capital facilities.
For project teams, the important point is that both support the move away from ambiguous, organization-specific information structures toward more standardized and machine-interpretable asset information.
CFIHOS does not eliminate the need for engineering documentation. Instead, it helps establish structured relationships between asset information and the documents associated with those assets.
A complete project handover may therefore contain both structured data and controlled documentation.
The document handover package addresses the broader package delivered from project to operations, while CFIHOS provides a standardized framework that can support the structure and interpretation of information within that handover.
Keeping these concepts separate is important: document handover describes the delivery process and package; CFIHOS defines standardized information structures that can be applied within that process.
The primary benefit of CFIHOS is greater consistency in how asset information is specified and exchanged between organizations.
When project participants work against common information definitions, organizations can reduce the amount of manual interpretation and mapping required during handover.
Potential benefits include:
The value becomes particularly significant on large capital projects where information is produced by many organizations and ultimately has to be consolidated into a coherent asset information environment.
Sharecat supports the practical management of structured asset information during project execution and handover.
Rather than replacing CFIHOS, Sharecat provides an environment in which project and supplier information can be collected, structured, associated with the correct equipment, and checked against defined information requirements.
This allows project teams to manage the connection between the Master Tag Register, supplier information, technical attributes, and associated engineering documentation as information develops throughout the project.
The objective is to identify information gaps and inconsistencies during execution rather than discovering them only when the final handover package is assembled.
For projects using CFIHOS-based requirements, Sharecat can therefore support the workflow around receiving, organizing, validating, and preparing structured asset information for handover into the owner-operator's information environment.
CFIHOS is the Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification, an industry framework for standardizing the structure and exchange of asset information on capital facilities projects.
CFIHOS stands for Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification.
The CFIHOS data model provides a standardized structure for representing facility information, including classes, properties, assets, documents, and relationships between information objects.
The Reference Data Library (RDL) contains standardized reference data used to classify and describe facility information consistently.
CFIHOS is used to reduce ambiguity and inconsistency when asset information is exchanged between owner-operators, EPCs, suppliers, and other project participants.
No. The two are related to industrial information interoperability but serve different purposes. ISO 15926 provides a broader framework for lifecycle information representation, while CFIHOS focuses on practical information requirements and exchange for capital facilities.
No. CFIHOS defines structures and reference information for information exchange. It does not replace an EDMS, document control process, or asset information management platform.
CFIHOS can provide a standardized basis for defining, structuring, checking, and exchanging asset information before it is transferred from the project organization to the owner-operator.
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