ISO 55000 or 10 Steps? Choosing Your Best Option for Developing an Asset Management Program

Water and wastewater systems have made considerable progress using the EPA/WERF 10 step process for developing many aspects of asset management programs over the past 15 years incorporating key concepts such as risk, level of service (objective) and business cases to analyze asset life cycle cost. With the adoption in 2014 of ISO 55000 for managing physical assets, many utilities are incorporating ISO 55000 as a framework for their asset management program, and certification if they so choose. This paper and presentation describes the advantages and challenges of ISO 55000 and the use of the 10 step process for water utilities in the United States. Case studies of four utilities will be presented as examples of how it is being applied and implemented to illustrate the benefits and challenges.