Workflows

Semantic model governance checklist for Power BI and Fabric teams

By Adrien Yvin ·

semantic-modelgovernancepower-bifabric

Governance is not a quarterly slide. It is a short checklist run before every prod promote.

Pre-promote checklist

Ownership and metadata

  • [ ] Named owner and backup owner in dataset description
  • [ ] Business definition linked for top 10 measures
  • [ ] Refresh schedule documented with timezone and dependency chain
  • [ ] Entra group for workspace access, not individual emails only

Model quality

  • [ ] Star schema or documented exception
  • [ ] Hide unused columns and tables from report view
  • [ ] RLS / OLS tested with three accounts (full, partial, none)
  • [ ] No duplicate measures with slightly different names

Change control

  • [ ] Git commit or Fabric workspace sync before pipeline promote
  • [ ] Changelog entry for breaking measure renames
  • [ ] Test workspace report smoke test passed

Certification

  • [ ] Certified by named approver (not self-certified by author)
  • [ ] Endorsement badge only after checklist complete
  • [ ] Deprecated models flagged in portal, not deleted silently

Fabric-specific adds

  • Document storage mode per table (Import, DirectQuery, Direct Lake)
  • Link semantic model to Gold tables, not ad hoc notebook outputs
  • Capacity SKU noted for Direct Lake eligibility

Make it stick

Publish the checklist in the repo. CI fails if article.yaml-style metadata fields are empty in a deployment manifest. Humans review exceptions; automation catches omissions.

Rolling governance across 15 workspaces? Book a 30-minute call.