In early 2020, qldwater and Mackay, Whitsunday and Fraser Coast Regional Councils signed off on a joint research collaboration aimed at developing clear guidance for water service providers to assist in identifying critical assets, determining criticality ratings, and ultimately improve the risk management of critical assets. Leveraging off industry expertise, the three Councils agreed that they needed a consistent framework that was not overly complicated and could be aligned to each organisation’s risk appetite and their relative size.
The result is a Statewide Network Asset Criticality Guideline which allows the participating Councils, as well as other Queensland Water Service Providers, to take a risk-based approach in managing their assets. The joint approach helped to alleviate resource constraints often experienced by small and remote Councils.
What is Asset Criticality?
Asset criticality is a measure of the consequence of failure on a business. It is driven by the following factors:
Criticality is often confused with risk, where risk is actually a combination of criticality (consequence) and the likelihood of failure.
The project started out with a focus on network assets, with phase 2 expanding the asset base to include facility assets such as pump stations and water and sewage treatment plants. The three Councils tested 100 assets against the network assessment tool (Excel spreadsheet) after which it was distributed to volunteer councils along with draft guidelines in mid-November for further feedback.
Each of the individual investing councils received a criticality assessment framework and customised tools to apply to their respective assets. Once assessed and aligned to a corporate risk framework, it helps target maintenance and renewal programs to better manage risk.
The project is being delivered by Moira Zeilinga from Clear Idea - she provided this update as part of the qldwater Essentials Webinar Series:.
This project has been a great example of a co-investment model with shared benefits and we are looking forward to being able to share the results with our broader member base. We anticipate commencing development of a web-based tool to help streamline assessments in November 2021.
Related Documents
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Control Systems - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma for Asset Class Maintenance Strategy for Control Systems.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Odour Control - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma for Asset Class Maintenance Strategy for Odour Control.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Recycled Water Network - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy for Recycled Water Networks.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Regulatory Statutory and Safety - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy for Regulatory, Statutory and Safety, including Electrical.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Reservoirs - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Reservoirs
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Sewer Gravity Mains and Manholes - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy for Sewer Gravity Mains and Manholes.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Sewer Pressure Mains Valves and Vents - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Sewer Pressure Mains Valves and Vents.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Sewer Pump Stations - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Sewer Pump Stations.
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Water Chemical Dosing - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Water Chemical Dosing and Water Quality Monitoring
Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Water Chemical Dosing Rev 0 - Release Date 09-Jun-2026: - Proforma Asset Class Maintenance Strategy Water Chemical Dosing