What is the Golden Thread in construction?

When it was published in May 2018, Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building a Safer Future report highlighted the urgent need to change attitudes and behaviours towards building safety within the construction industry. It was clear that the sector needed to adopt new ways of working to ensure that the tragedy of Grenfell Tower was never repeated and that residents in higher-risk buildings were safe, and could feel safe, in their homes.

One of the report's key recommendations was that a ‘golden thread’ of digital information should be introduced to the industry to address problems with key information not being effectively stored, managed, and available throughout the life cycle of a building. This golden thread would better enable the right people to make the best possible decisions at the right times to design, construct and operate their buildings more safely and effectively.

The golden thread involves keeping a digital record of crucial building information – starting from the design phase and continuing throughout the building's lifecycle. The government has decided that the golden thread of a building's information must be stored digitally, but this can be on multiple systems.

We have built MosaicGT to provide a platform for storing Golden Thread information, inviting relevant Accountable Persons to collaborate on your Golden Thread documentation. MosaicGT provides a framework for the essential Documents and Certificates that you must keep up to date for the life of a building, and it provides a way to make those documents available to all key stakeholders including Residents.

Crucially, by maintaining an accurate and up-to-date source for all building information you will ensure that building owners can better manage their buildings and optimise safety.

So, remember your building’s information must be:

• kept digitally
• kept securely
• a building’s single source of truth
• available to people who need the information to do a job
• available when the person needs the information
• presented in a way that can be easily used  
  
  

Essentially, the golden thread is all about the right people having the right information when they need it. 

• right people – those who require the information to carry out a function
• right information – presented in a way that the receiver can use
• right time – when the information will add value
  
  

Each golden thread will be individual, bespoke, and specific to the building and group of residents and occupants.