Asset Condition Assessment and Ranking

Determining the condition of assets and ranking them in terms of their criticality factors is one of the most complex areas in asset management.

The level of sophistication available is increasing at a tremendous rate. Specialist products and systems are becoming available regularly, offering a wide range of condition monitoring techniques that identify not only the failure mode but also the cause of failure. Some of the condition monitoring techniques available are shown on the following tabulation.

Radical gains have been made in these areas in recent years through:

• New technology (equipment) and method of condition monitoring for all asset types, for example: vibration analysis/ground penetrating radar.
• Improvements in the processes followed to better allow for:
  • Identifying the failure mode and the cause of failure
  • Determining the most appropriate renewal action.

However, it is important that asset owners consider the situation before they leap from having no data at all (on asset condition) to attempting to implement the most advanced form of condition assessment. In many cases it may not be economically justified.

Key principles

There are several key principles that need to be adhered to in developing suitable condition assessment and ranking processes for all asset owners such that:

• The processes and techniques used should evolve slowly in levels of sophistication appropriate to the needs of the organization.
• The processes adopted should be an integral part of the overall asset management program and should not be considered as separate integrating with the key modules of:
• Condition decay prediction
• Risk assessment modules
• Treatment option modules
• Optimized renewal modules.

The outputs and rankings should allow the organization to validate the condition of all asset types relative to each other to enable the identification of critical assets.

That is, to be able to judge the relative merits for resource needs between the various components that make up an asset or facility e.g. Building — roof, facade, air conditioning, etc.  

Staged introduction

The most appropriate stages for introducing condition assessment is a three - stage approach:

• Level I (CAP 1) Simple (Introductory) Ranking Stage CAP1
• Level 2 (CAP 2) Stage II Intermediate (Expanded) Stage
• Level 3 (CAP 3) Stage III Sophisticated Stage

The approach taken needs to accommodate the different needs that are likely to exist throughout the organization including:

• The condition of the assets
• The business environment and financial situation
• Customer expectations.