In various embodiments, techniques are provided for coordinating the assignment of codes to infrastructure elements in an infrastructure modeling software architecture. A chain of authority is provided from a code authority local to a client to a cloud-based code authority service. Further, a code is structured in three parts, including a code specification part identifying a code specification that indicates what information is encoded into the code and how it is encoded, a code scope part based on boundaries over which the code authority guarantees the code is unique, and a code value part with a unique value.