Room data sheets are systematic descriptions of the requirements of a building and play a crucial role in the planning, design and project development. They help with communication and quality control as well as facilitate change management.

They are usually created during the briefing (architectural programming in the US) phases of a project to explain the client's requirement for each type of space. They then serve as a basis for a specification to help design teams and contractors comprehend what is expected from the spaces, and to make sure that the proposed solution is in line with the client's requirements.

Typically, architects create room data sheets through interviews with their clients as well as other stakeholders. They are generally a work in progress and can be kept as a "living document" until the design team has agreed on the final design.

When creating a sheet of data for a space, it is important to to categorize the items you create as 'general' or "specific". A general requirement could be that the office needs to be soundproofed to a certain degree and specific requirements could include:

Layer's room data sheets and predefined listlists allow you to collect all the necessary information in a logical and efficient way. This allows designers to think strategically about the various requirements that could be required, thus reducing the risk of missing or not noticing something. Furthermore, when you link your room data sheets to an IFC floor plan, you can automatically create adjacency diagrams that show how requirements are translated into spatial solutions.