The International Infrastructure Management Manual (IIMM) is indisputably the master manual for asset management practitioners. For those who are new to asset management, however, the IIMM’s level of detail can result in a case of information overload. Enter the joint IPWEA/IPWEA NZ publication, AMBasics: Applying Infrastructure Asset Management Principles. 

 
As a companion document to the IIMM, the newly launched AMBasics has been written to assist people and organisations new to asset management that need to gain a grasp of the basic requirements of asset management planning.

Murray Erbs, IPWEA’s NAMS Chair, says the publication is essential reading for junior engineers, technical officers, works supervisors and anyone “thrown into the asset management role”. It also will be a resource and summary explanation for accountants, planners, senior managers and elected members on the tasks required to start the journey and achieve a basic or core level asset management plan.

“AMBasics is looking to help organisations reach a basic level maturity of asset management practice and start thinking about what they can put in place to better manage their infrastructure for the long-term. Asset management requires key decisions to be made around the services that are being provided, community values and what’s an affordable cost for the community,” Erbs explains.

AMBasics is not a replacement for the IIMM – the IIMM takes the reader through the full asset management process, and outlines a range of practices on a maturity scale from aware to advanced.

Erbs says there was demand for an entry-level publication without the complexity of the IIMM.

“While someone wanting to get to basic maturity can use the IIMM and avoid the more advanced details, the feedback has been that it wasn’t that easy for someone who is starting out to make the choices of what to leave out of the advanced level practices,” Erbs says.

“People were seeking more step-by-step practice and examples; AMBasics will make it easier for these people and their organisations to get started on the asset management journey.”

Publication contents

AMBasics author Lisa Roberts, the Director of NZ-based Infrastructure Decisions, says the publication leads with the why and what of asset management. It then focuses on maintaining the organisation’s existing network and including those assets in an asset register with supporting information.

Next, it then looks at strategies around managing and operating those assets, while getting the reader thinking about their longterm renewal requirements.

“It focuses on looking after what we’ve got now and in the future, and then understanding what the future might look like and how that might affect what the asset needs to provide,” Roberts says.

“Then, having identified what programs of work are required to renew, upgrade and develop our assets, it asks how affordable are they and what simple prioritisation techniques can we use to get the most out of our budget.”

Roberts says the publication fills an important knowledge gap for those new to asset management.

“Even though the IIMM encourages people to start with the basics and work their way up to the advanced, people tend to try to do too much at once, and as a result they don’t make progress on any front. AMBasics will help get people started at a more achievable, practical level without getting lost in the detail of some of the more advanced practices,” she explains.

“You need to have clarity of purpose to move forward with an effective asset management plan; you see people jumping in at the bottom end, trying to link an awful lot of information and apply all these interesting models, and they often get lost along the way.

“We’re trying to make sure that organisations understand their assets and that they’re going to be managed for the long-term for their communities.”

You can purchase AMBasics here.