Commons Authorizations Ontology
type: Ontology
abstract: This ontology defines the concept of authorization from a business perspective, rather than security or access control viewpoint, as a situation or state of affairs, including related parties. It was derived from the FIBO Executives ontology and simplified/adapted for broader use.
contributor: Elisa Kendall, Thematix Partners LLC
issued: 2025-07-18T18:00:00
license: Copyright (c) 2021-2025 EDM Council, Inc. Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Object Management Group, Inc. Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Thematix Partners LLC Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc. Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Federated Knowledge LLC Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Ontogenesis Solutions, LLC Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. See https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
title: Commons Business Authorizations Ontology
imports: AnnotationVocabulary
imports: ContextualDesignators
imports: Organizations
imports: PartiesAndSituations
imports: RolesAndCompositions
version IRI: BusinessAuthorizations
copyright: Copyright (c) 2021-2025 EDM Council, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Object Management Group, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Thematix Partners LLC
copyright: Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Federated Knowledge LLC
copyright: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Ontogenesis Solutions, LLC

authorization
type: Class
subclass of: Situation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has authorized party
  some values from: authorized party
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has authorizing party
  some values from: authorising party
label: authorisation
definition: situation in which a party authorizes someone to act on their behalf or to have specific capabilities under certain conditions for some period of time

authorized party
type: Class
subclass of: FunctionalRole
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is authorized through
  some values from: authorization
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isPlayedBy
  some values from: LegalPerson
label: authorised party
definition: party that has been given the ability to act on behalf of another party or to have specified capabilities under some set of guidelines for some period of time

authorising party
type: Class
subclass of: Actor
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: authorizes through
  some values from: authorization
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isPlayedBy
  some values from: LegalPerson
label: authorizing party
definition: party that delegates some role, authority, or control to another party

legally delegated authority
type: Class
subclass of: authorized party
definition: authorized party empowered with some level of legal control and corresponding responsibility

responsible party
type: Class
subclass of: authorized party
definition: legal person acting in a role that has some formal responsibility
example: party with a fiduciary responsibility such as a signatory, an examiner, registrar, obligor, payee, etc.

authorizes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: actsOn
domain: authorising party
range: authorized party
inverse of: is authorized by
definition: endorses, enables, empowers, or gives permission to

authorizes directly
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: directlyAffects
domain: authorising party
range: LegalPerson
inverse of: is directly authorized by
definition: endorses, enables, empowers, or gives permission directly to

authorizes through
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: actsIn
domain: authorising party
range: authorization
inverse of: has authorizing party
definition: indicates the situation that facilitates designation of an authorized party by the authorizing party for some purpose

delegates control to
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: authorizes
sub property of: designates
range: legally delegated authority
definition: indicates a party to which the authorizing party has delegated some authority or control

has authorization
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isApplicableIn
range: authorization
definition: relates something to a specific authorization that is applicable to it in some context

has authorized party
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasUndergoer
domain: authorization
range: authorized party
definition: indicates the party (role) that is endorsed, enabled, empowered, or otherwise permitted to do something in the situation

has authorizee
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isExperiencedBy
domain: authorization
range: LegalPerson
definition: indicates the legal person that is endorsed, enabled, empowered, or otherwise permitted to do something in the situation

has authorizing party
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasActor
domain: authorization
range: authorising party
definition: indicates the party (role) that endorses, enables, empowers, or gives permission in the situation

has authorizor
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasActiveParty
domain: authorization
range: LegalPerson
definition: indicates the legal person that endorses, enables, empowers, or gives permission in the situation

has delegated control of
type: ObjectProperty
domain: legally delegated authority
definition: indicates something or some party that is controlled via delegation

has responsible party
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasPartyRole
range: responsible party
definition: identifies a party that has some assignment, commitment or obligation with respect to some situation or organization

is authorized by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isAffectedBy
domain: authorized party
range: authorising party
definition: is endorsed, enabled, empowered, or otherwise permitted by

is authorized through
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: undergoes
domain: authorized party
range: authorization
inverse of: has authorized party
definition: indicates the situation that facilitates endorsement of the authorized party for some purpose

is authorizee in
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: experiences
domain: LegalPerson
range: authorization
inverse of: has authorizee
definition: indicates the situation that facilitates designation of the legal person as an authorized party for some purpose

is authorizor in
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: playsActiveRoleIn
domain: LegalPerson
range: authorization
inverse of: has authorizor
definition: indicates the situation that facilitates designation of an authorized party by the legal person for some purpose

is directly authorized by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isDirectlyAffectedBy
domain: LegalPerson
range: authorising party
definition: is directly endorsed, enabled, empowered, or otherwise permitted by