By Peter Way PSM, Chair NAMS.AU
Following on from the successful publication of the IPWEA Practice Note 5 on the condition assessment for stormwater drainage, NAMS.AU was approached earlier this year to work with the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) in updating Appendix D to the WSAA Code 2013 on scoring of defects for stormwater drainage. 
We were happy to oblige, given the work we have done to date and the valuable feedback we received from practitioners around the nation, as part of the Workshops we ran at the end of last year.
NAMS.AU was very fortunate to have input on this task from a small group of highly experienced professionals in this field and a similar dedicated small peer review group. Based on the feedback we received in the Workshops, we realised that more guidance on a range of issues particular to stormwater drainage, would be beneficial. In particular, it was felt there was a need to address those parts of stormwater drainage systems made up of brick or masonry-type construction, of which there is still a significant amount in service. A big thank you in particular goes to Alf Grigg, Peter Slingsby, Steve Weatherstone and Kirk Bloomfield for their drafting of the material on this topic.
Another component of some stormwater drainage systems that has been identified as warranting regular inspection are galvanised corrugated steel pipes/culverts, which can fail catastrophically if their structural integrity is compromised, typically through corrosion of the invert. We have included provision for scoring defects in these particular types of materials in the Code. Also, some photo examples of defects have been forwarded to WSAA for inclusion in their associated compendium of photos of defect types.
The new Appendix D of the WSAA code is being uploaded by WSAA as part of their online, accessible code resources. NAMS.AU will also be including the Appendix D as an addition to the Practice Note 5 and will be providing advice on application of Appendix D as part of the next round of Workshops to be held around the States in September/October this year. Keep your eye out for dates and locations, which we will publish shortly. 
We are also finalising soon a standard specification for engaging contractors to undertake CCTV surveys and this is being done by AUS-SPEC, again with input from a dedicated peer review group. We anticipate this will be available from AUS-SPEC as part of their next round of publications/updates in October this year.
2013 Stormwater Drainage Condition Assessment Workshops
IPWEA presents this workshop to help asset management practitioners apply best practice for inspection, condition and performance assessment for stormwater drainage assets. The workshop focuses on the practicalities of how to prepare and undertake a stormwater drainage network condition survey, including data analysis, reporting and more.