What is ISO 15926?

ISO 15926 is an international standard developed to enable data integration, sharing, and exchange across engineering systems throughout the lifecycle of oil, gas, and process industry facilities.

The standard provides a common reference data library and an object-oriented data model that allows software systems from different vendors to represent and exchange the same asset and process information without losing meaning or context.

Why ISO 15926 matters for industrial data management

In complex projects involving multiple contractors, suppliers, and software systems, data is often locked in proprietary formats or structured differently across systems. ISO 15926 provides a neutral, standardised way to represent physical objects, processes, and their properties — enabling true data interoperability.

Without such standards, data integration requires costly custom mappings between each pair of systems involved in a project or operation. This is particularly problematic during document handover, where contractor and operator systems must exchange large volumes of structured asset data.

ISO 15926 in practice

ISO 15926 is most relevant in:

• Brownfield asset handover and system migrations — see asset data migration
• Connecting engineering tools to CMMS, ERP, and EAM platforms
• Building a Common Data Environment (CDE) across multiple project partners
• Long-term asset information management across operator portfolios

ISO 15926 and related standards

ISO 15926 works alongside other standards used in capital facilities projects. CFIHOS provides structured data requirements aligned with ISO 15926 principles for project handover. Together they define both the data model and the specific information requirements that must be met at each lifecycle stage.

Consistent asset identifiers — governed through a Master Tag Register (MTR) — are a prerequisite for ISO 15926-aligned data exchange, as the standard relies on stable, unambiguous identifiers to maintain traceability across systems.

How Sharecat relates to ISO 15926

Sharecat is built on principles aligned with ISO 15926. The platform supports structured data models that enable consistent representation of equipment, tags, and documents — making it possible to exchange information between Sharecat and other enterprise systems in a standards-aligned way.

This supports the digital backbone that asset-intensive organisations need to maintain reliable, interoperable data across engineering, procurement, and operations.