Overview

Foundation standard of the ISO 55000 series: terminology, overview and principles of asset management; guidance and vocabulary, not certifiable

ISO 55000:2024 is the foundation document of the ISO 55000 series on asset management. It provides the vocabulary, an overview of asset management and asset management systems, and the principles on which the series rests. The second edition was published in July 2024 by ISO/TC 251 and replaces ISO 55000:2014, drawing on a decade of implementation experience from more than fifty countries.

ISO 55000 contains no requirements and cannot be certified against. Certification in this family is against ISO 55001, which specifies the requirements for an asset management system. ISO 55000 is what makes ISO 55001 intelligible: it defines what an "asset" is (an item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an organization), and distinguishes carefully between asset management (the coordinated activity of an organization to realize value from assets) and an asset management system (the management system used to direct and control that activity).

The overview explains the relationships that practitioners most often confuse: between organizational objectives, the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP), asset management objectives, asset management plans, and the activities performed on individual assets. It also positions asset management relative to financial management, risk management and sustainability, and covers whole-life cost and value rather than acquisition cost alone.

The principles set out why asset management works: assets exist to deliver value to the organization and its stakeholders; asset management translates organizational objectives into technical and financial decisions, plans and activities; leadership and workplace culture are determinants of realizing value; and assurance activity confirms that assets fulfil their required purpose. The 2024 edition modernises the terminology and sharpens the treatment of value realization and decision-making, in step with the parallel revision of ISO 55001.

The wider series has expanded considerably: ISO 55001 (requirements), ISO 55002 (guidance on the application of ISO 55001), ISO 55010 (alignment of financial and non-financial functions in asset management), ISO 55011 (guidance on the development of government asset management policy), ISO 55012 (people involvement and competence) and ISO 55013 (guidance on the management of data assets).

Organizations typically read ISO 55000 first, use it to establish a common language across engineering, operations and finance, and then decide whether to implement — and possibly certify — an asset management system to ISO 55001. The series has strong roots in the earlier British specification PAS 55, and remains most heavily used in utilities, transport, infrastructure, mining and heavy manufacturing.

Purpose

To establish the terminology, concepts and principles of asset management, and to explain how an asset management system links organizational objectives to decisions and activities performed on assets across their life cycle.

Key Benefits

• Provides a single agreed vocabulary for asset management across engineering, operations, finance and risk functions
• Explains the difference between asset management and an asset management system, a common source of confusion
• Sets out the line of sight from organizational objectives through the SAMP to asset management plans and asset activities
• Frames decisions around whole-life value and cost rather than acquisition cost
• Serves as the interpretive basis for the certifiable requirements in ISO 55001
• Applies to physical, financial, information, human and intangible assets
• Supports business cases for asset investment by connecting technical and financial reasoning
• Free of audit burden, since it is an overview and vocabulary document
• Aligned with the wider ISO 55000 series covering finance, government policy, people and data assets
• Provides continuity for organizations that previously worked to PAS 55

Key Requirements

• Note: ISO 55000 contains no auditable requirements — it provides vocabulary, overview and principles
• Understand the defined terms, particularly asset, asset management, asset management system, asset portfolio and asset system
• Understand the principles: value, alignment of technical and financial decisions with organizational objectives, leadership and culture, and assurance
• Recognise the role of the Strategic Asset Management Plan in translating organizational objectives into asset management objectives
• Understand the hierarchy of organizational objectives, asset management objectives, asset management plans and asset activities
• Consider assets across their whole life cycle, from acquisition through operation and maintenance to disposal or renewal
• Recognise the relationship between asset management and risk management, financial management and sustainability
• Understand the scope and boundaries an organization may set for an asset management system
• Use ISO 55000 as the reference for interpreting the requirements in ISO 55001
• Refer to ISO 55002 for practical implementation guidance

Who Needs This Standard?

Organizations whose performance depends on physical or infrastructure assets — utilities, transport operators and authorities, rail and highways bodies, energy generators and networks, mining and process plants, facilities managers, and public bodies responsible for infrastructure — plus anyone preparing to implement or audit ISO 55001.

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