The Process of Creating a New ASTM Standard – A Beginners Guide
Start to Finish
Company Confidential/Proprietary 2
NPMA and ASTM a Brief History
• 1998 the idea of property standards took hold, major breakthrough at NES in Santa Fe
• Dedicated group researched how the process should work
• Choose ASTM, founded in 1898, as the organization to manage the process of creating voluntary consensus standard
• ASTM Committee E53 Property Management Systems was formed in 2000
• The first standards were issued in 2001
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Committee E53 Executive Board
• Executive BoardChairman - Robert Holcombe, General Services Administration
Vice Chairman – Bill Franklin , Noblis Inc.
Membership Secretary – Tara Miller, ReDe/Critique JV
Secretary – Jerry Howse, Independent
Member at Large – Patrice Baker, Bonneville Power Administration
Member at Large – Amber Barber, US Office of Under Secretary of Defense-Acquisition Tech and Logistics
Member at Large – Kim Doner, Sra International
Member at Large – Doug Goetz, Independent
Staff Manager – Christi Sierk, ASTM International
3
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Committee E53 Subcommittees• E53.01 Process Management
Subcommittee Chairman - Rick Shultz, John Hopkins University/APL
• E53.02 Data ManagementSubcommittee Chairman - Brandon Kriner, Harris Corporation
• E53.03 Financial ManagementSubcommittee Chairman – Richard Culbertson, Lockheed Martin
• E53.04 Reutilization and DisposalSubcommittee Chairman – Jim Begis, DHHS
• E53.05 Property Management MaturitySubcommittee Chairman – Jim Dieter, Sunflower Systems
• E53.06 TerminologySubcommittee Chairman – Cinda Brockman, SAIC
• E53.07 Sustainable Property Management Subcommittee Chairman – Robert Holcombe, GSA
• E53.10 ISO Asset Management ActivitySubcommittee Chairman – Lyle Hestermann, Independent
4
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Current Standards
• Total number of active standards – 26– Pickup summary book from ASTM booth
• New standards issues since last NES – 3 brand new standards– E2671-10 Standard Practice for Defining Movements, Shipments, and
Transfers of Assets – E2811-11 Management of Low Risk Property (LRP) – E2812-11 Standard Practice for Uniform Data Management in Asset
Management Records Systems
– 2 revisions of existing standards– E2135-10a Standard Terminology for Property and Asset Management– E2306-11 Standard Practice for Disposal of Personal Property
5
Company Confidential/Proprietary
How to start?
• Begins with an idea and need
• Write it down
• Check ASTM for existing standard that already addresses the need
• What type of standard should you write– Classification , a systematic arrangement or division of materials, products,
systems, or services into groups based on similar characteristics such as origin, composition, properties, or use
– Practice, a definitive set of instructions for performing one or more specific operations that does not produce a test result
– Guide, a compendium of information or series of options that does not recommend a specific course of action
– Terminology, a document comprising definitions of terms; explanations of symbols, abbreviations, or acronyms
– Test Method, a definitive procedure that produces a test result– Specification, an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product,
system, or service.
6
Company Confidential/Proprietary
How to start cont…
• Individual or Group effort– Individual, gets all the glory and gets all the pain
• One view point – Group shares all the glory but also shares all the pain
• Multiple views and input when developing standard• Share the work• ASTM membership not requirement to be on team, but recommend that
at least one group member be an E53 member• Choose a lead for the group, this person becomes the technical lead and
is the main contact
• Where to find your Group– Local NPMA chapter members– Co-workers– Ask E53 for assistance
7
Company Confidential/Proprietary
ASTM Process – Step One the Work Item
• Who to contact– Determine which subcommittee best fits the idea for proposed standard– Contact subcommittee chairman and make your pitch
• Provide scope of work item
• Register your Work Item– ASTM member logs into the ASTM website – Click on My Committees– Left hand side click on Ballots and Work Items under My Tools– Follow instructions to register a new work item
• Will need to enter a brief summary during this process• Work Item number will be assigned
8
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Step One the Work Item cont…
9
• Complete the Work item– Use ASTM template (will be provided upon registration) – Work with your group
• Submit Work Item– Send completed work item to the subcommittee chairman and our ASTM E53
staff manager
• Editorial Task Group Review– Subcommittee chairman will submit Work Item for ETG review– Small group from E53 Executive Committee reviews for form and style and
provides any feedback to the task group lead– After revisions are completed Work Item is resubmitted to subcommittee
chairman and ASTM E53 staff manager– It is now ready for ballot
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Recent Work Item
10
Company Confidential/Proprietary
ASTM Process – Step Two the Ballot
• Type of ASTM ballots– Subcommittee
• The first ballot for your Work Item • Only those registered under this subcommittee will have access to review
and have opportunity to vote – Main
• Second ballot for Work Item• All members of E53 will have access to review and vote
– Main/Concurrent• When Subcommittee and Main committee ballots take place at the same
time
• Type of Voters– Official (one per organization) – Non-official
11
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Step Two the Ballot cont…
12
• Types of Votes– Affirmative
• With comments– Negative
• Must contain a rationale for voting negative – Abstain
• With comments
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Negatives what to do with them
• Don’t give up– Its is extremely rare that a fist time Work Item makes it through with no
negatives– This is all part of the consensus process
• Work with your Group– Review all negatives– Determine if you agree or do not agree with negative– If team does not agree contact voter to discuss, they may not have
understood the intent and be willing to withdraw negative
• Use the negative to create a stronger standard– Valid points should initiate a revision – Submit for ballot
• How long will the process take– It takes as along as it takes
13
Company Confidential/Proprietary
It’s a Standard – Congratulations !
• What next– Work Item will received a new standard number– Must be approved by ASTM Committee on Standards– Publication can take up to 8 weeks
• How long will it remain a standard– All standards must be reviewed in its fifth year– Decision to ballot as is, revise or withdraw will be made– If not re-balloted standard will automatically be withdrawn at end of its eighth
year
• Revision and Reapproval process – New task group is formed (former members of developing group will be
contacted if available)– Review and revisions are completed– Standard is re-balloted
14
Company Confidential/Proprietary
Take away
• Anyone can create a work item just need the initial idea
• Work item is the jumping off point for ASTM process
• Recommendation - Don’t do it alone
• Patience and effort are required
• Its important to our profession
• Don’t wait on others step up, take the plunge
My contact information: Bill Franklin
703-610-1869
15