IPWEA is represented on the ISO Technical Committee for Asset Management Systems, which is responsible for the development of the ISO 55000 family of standards that define good standards and requirements for a management system. Here’s an update on the committee’s most recent activity.

The ISO Technical Committee 251 (TC 251) overseeing work on the suite of ISO asset management standards met in May in Nanjing, China.

The committee comprises 32 participating member countries and 15 observer member countries. Peter Way from IPWEA was part of the Australian delegation. He was also convenor of the finance working group of TC 251 and director of the IPWEA NAMS Council and has recently stepped down from these positions.

Peter reported that the most significant recent development has been publication of the new version of ISO 55002. It has been based on people’s actual journeys in asset management and has added guidance on cross-cutting subjects, such as:

• Value
• Scope of your asset management system
• Strategic asset management plans
• Asset management decision-making
• Risk management
• Finance and
• Scalability to any organisation

“The next major publication expected is a new technical specification, ISO 55010, providing guidance on how to achieve alignment between the financial and non-financial functions in asset management,” said Peter.

“It will draw on Australian experiences on the need to have the financial and technical arms of the organisation better collaborating and speaking the same language.”

The next body of work is another ISO Standard (55011) for public policy makers, to promote asset management at all levels of government.

Several actions were agreed at the meeting in China, including input to amending the high-level structure used by ISO for all its management system standards, which will be essential input to the planned revision of ISO 55000 and 55001 over the next few years.

“Other projects are still in the scoping phase, including topics such as sustainability, lifecycle management of intangible assets, information management and further advice on asset registers. The TC 251 is also engaging with other ISO committees on topics such as sustainable finance,” said Peter.

ISO TC 251 now has a website with updates on committee progress, articles and tools to help explain and promote the benefits of ISO standards.

IPWEA has been involved in developing the ISO 55000 Asset Management standards suite over the last nine years, for the benefits the standards bring to organisations using a management systems approach.

IPWEA’s guidelines and manuals, like the IIMM, AIFMM, and the Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning, provide excellent how-to guidance on applying what needs to be done, as stated in the standards. Other resources, such as maturity assessment frameworks and Practice Notes, help management test alignment of an organisation’s practices against the standards’ requirements. In this way, priorities can be established that focus on improvements to close the gaps between current and desirable practices.

These professional planning resources position practitioners for a sustainable future following the ISO 55000 approach and are recommended for any organisation seeking to improve its asset management practices.