When it comes to good asset management practice, stormwater systems – buried out of sight – tend to be the poor cousins. The pressure to strategically allocate limited resources throughout extensive stormwater networks can understandably make stormwater practitioners feel like they’re in over their heads.
To help practitioners and their organisations keep their heads above water, IPWEA has developed a tool called the Action Pipeline to help get full value from Practice Note 5 on Condition Assessment for these stormwater drainage assets.
The Action Pipeline will be presented at IPWEA’s upcoming
Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment Workshops, which will be held in capital cities throughout Australia during September and October.
Workshop trainer and NAMS.AU Chair Peter Way explains that the pipeline will provide a clear pathway that users can apply to their own stormwater drainage network, and ultimately use to achieve desirable practice levels as recommended in Practice Note 5: Stormwater Drainage (PN5).
“Through the Action Pipeline, we focus on risk and criticality within the stormwater drainage network, to drive where the resources should be best deployed,” Way says.
“We also focus on using the available technology most effectively, how to carry out the survey work (in house or by contract), how to analyse the data flowing from the condition assessment processes and ensure this all translates into action plans that can be delivered by ensuring adequate finances are provided.”
The need for the Action Pipeline become evident during previous workshops.
“Practitioners were feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the advice in PN5 and were having difficulty in either getting started or working out what was needed to best apply the practice note,” Way explains.
“So, we decided it would be helpful to set out the steps involved in the form of a ‘pipeline’ that allowed users to see the process as somewhat of a journey that they could relate to their own circumstance and apply accordingly.
“Practitioners will be able to assess how far along the pipeline they are in meeting PN5, and decide where they need to best focus resources in making the next steps.
“It is all about arriving at the end of the pipeline with the least amount of stress and in the most cost effective way.”
Common stormwater drainage quandaries
Way says there are some commonly made mistakes and questions that the Action Pipeline and Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment Workshops will address.
“The most common mistakes we see are a lack of planning and lack of strategic thinking as to what the best use of the limited resource available is,” he says.
“Many are also asking about what proportion of the network they should be surveying, statistically what is appropriate to satisfy audit requirements.
“Another major problem is that much of the condition assessment data that is collected never gets fully utilised in terms of ongoing monitoring of how the assets are deteriorating, what life can be expected before remediation and what are the longer term financial implications.
“Not only will the Action Pipeline help people better plan their stormwater drainage management journey, but through the workshop they will get the benefit of seeing how to apply the PN by way of worked exercises and sharing with peers, the latest innovations and technology being applied.”
Way says the Action Pipeline is also a handy way for participants to test the maturity of their own stormwater drainage asset management practice against that outlined in PN5.
Practice Note 5 has been updated as part of a 2015 reprint to now include material that highlights how to meet the requirements of the ISO 55000 series of standards on asset management systems.
The simple renewals planning tool spreadsheet is also available as part of the practice note and will be explained in the workshops.
The Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment Workshops will be held:
Perth – Wed, 28 Sept
Sydney – Mon, 17 Oct
Melbourne – Tues, 18 Oct
Launceston – Wed, 19 Oct
Adelaide – Fri, 21 Oct
Brisbane – Mon, 24 Oct
Contact IPWEA directly about our in-house training options.