“The building is just the byproduct. The proof of the work is the trail.”
Procons Academy, a PMI Authorized Training Partner, successfully concluded its online professional workshop, Master Project Records & Information Management, on Saturday, 24 October 2026. Over three hours on Zoom, project professionals from the construction and software sectors learned how to protect project records as authoritative evidence.
The session was led by Prof. Ruwan Gamage, Professor and Director of the National Institute of Library and Information Sciences (NILIS), University of Colombo. His lesson, Records Management for Project Managers, was an introduction for construction and software project teams, delivered in three parts with polls, chat questions, open-mic discussions and breakout rooms throughout.
Held from 9.00 AM to 12.00 noon, the three-hour online workshop brought together project managers, engineers, planning and procurement professionals, and students eager to build a strong foundation in project records handling and information management.
When Records Fail
Real cases showed what is at stake when records are neglected. They included examples such as €645,000 fine for Ireland’s Health Service Executive over poorly kept records, a US$1.2 million rebuild for an AI start-up that lacked consent documentation, and the loss of Sri Lanka’s NMRA files from an unbacked cloud. Participants were also reminded that site diaries completed days late can weaken a delay claim.
Capture It as You Go: Records Across the Project Life Cycle
Participants also reviewed the records that should be captured at each stage of the project life. Early on, in pre-project and investment, this means feasibility studies, needs assessments, and impact assessments. Authorization and contracting add the contract, scope of work, specifications, and notice to proceed. In planning and baselines, teams secure the management plan, work breakdown structure (WBS), and schedule and budget baselines. Delivery and monitoring generate a steady stream of requests for information (RFIs), submittals, risk and issue logs, meeting minutes, and quality assurance (QA) test results. Finally, closeout and operations call for handover certificates, operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals, as-built drawings, the final account, and lessons learned. For software projects, the equivalents include business cases, statements of work, release plans, user stories, test reports and release acceptance sign-offs.
Key Ideas Shared
- Documents vs. records: a working document becomes a record once it is approved and fixed as evidence.
- Trustworthy records: authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability, the four tests set out in ISO 15489.
- One source of truth: consistent file naming, metadata, version control and audit trails, supported by an EDRMS or a common data environment.
- Retention and protection: retention schedules shaped by legal exposure under Sri Lanka’s Prescription Ordinance, plus safeguards such as access controls, backups, and format migration.
- National context: the importance of good records in light of Sri Lanka’s first National Policy on Archives and Records Management, approved in April 2025.
Five habits to take back to the project
- Freeze approvals into records
- Capture evidence in the moment
- Classify with metadata at creation
- Control in an EDRMS or CDE
- Retain by schedule; dispose with authority
The workshop ended with an exit ticket, in which participants committed in the chat to one change they would make on their projects on Monday. Procons Academy thanks Prof. Gamage and all participants, and looks forward to hosting more professional development workshops for project practitioners.
About Procons Academy
Procons Academy is the training division of Pro Consultancy International (Pvt.) Ltd. and a PMI® Authorized Training Partner (ATP) – USA, offering industry-focused courses and training programmes including PMP, CAPM, RMP, Primavera P6, Power BI, and more.
For details on upcoming courses and workshops,
– Visit proconsacademy.com
– Contact training@procons.lk / 074 2 540 461.
More details on this event are available on the Procons Academy linkedin page.
