It’s fair to say that interest in the new AS ISO 55001 standard is high within the public works asset management sector, despite uncertainty from many as to whether to get certified against the standard.
The debate is still somewhat moot, because as yet there are no bodies in Australia able to certify companies against the standard, which specifies the requirements for an asset management system within the context of an organisation.
Accreditation is expected to become available in Australia in the coming months through the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).
IPWEA is not advocating its members rush out to get certified to the standard. Instead it is encouraging members to bring their asset management practices into line with the standard and reap the benefits immediately without going through the pain (and cost) of the certification process.
“We are not saying that people shouldn’t get certified but we are not promoting it as the ‘be all and end all’,” explained NAMS.PLUS Chair Peter Way. “Our approach is to go in steps, to get aligned to the standards and see the benefits, and then potentially get certified further down the line.”
In April, IPWEA will be holding a two-part webinar series on the steps involved in implementing the ISO 55000 AM Standards into organisations’ asset management processes. The webinars will provide self-assessment tools to assist in monitoring progress on such implementation.
As part of the training, participants will be given 12 months access to a new online Maturity Assessment Tool that has been developed by the IPWEA to help organisations determine how well aligned they are to the standard. The tool helps organisations identify any risk areas so they can prioritise and bring themselves into line with the standard. NAMS.PLUS subscribers also are be given access to the ISO 55000 Maturity Assessment Tool.
Whitehorse City Council Asset Management Strategy Coordinator David Braby completed IPWEA’s previous training on the ISO55000 standards last year when the standards were first released.
“We knew the standards were coming and we purchased a set,” he said. “We did a bit of reading but thought the training would help improve our understanding of what the standards meant to practitioners”
Whitehorse City Council, like many others, already has asset management Policy, Strategy and Plans in place as specified under the National Asset Management Assessment Framework for Local Government. The training therefore was a way in which to make sure they were in line with modern thinking.
“It was more about joining the dots and aligning the terminology in the standards back to the documents we already have,” he said.
“It was really a matter of breaking down the standard for us and relating the terminology used in it back to the IIMM or standard Australian asset management terminology, so we could then go back through our documents and align the terminology.”
According to Braby, Whitehorse City Council is under no pressure to get accredited under the standard, but it is aligning all its documents with the ISO 55001 standard.
As Braby said: “Whether you want to go through the process of being accredited or not, you can still apply the standards to your organisation.”
An updated version of the IIMM will be released this year to ensure that the IIMM more fully explains the ‘How To’ of what is required by the standards.
AS ISO AM 55000 Series Standards Implementation Webinar Series
2-Part Webinar Series
Thu 23 April: 12 noon (AEST) for 60 mins
Thu 30 April: 12 noon (AEST) for 60 mins
Cost
Australia: AU$385 per participant (inc GST)
International: AU$350 per participant (GST does not apply)
Group registration: Up to 5 participants/logins Au$1,250
* Above 5, AU$250pp. Add GST if applicable