Decommissioning
Decommissioning is the controlled removal of equipment from active service, including isolation, data closure, material handling, and disposal or preservation decisions.
What this term means in maintenance
Decommissioning is the controlled removal of equipment from active service, including isolation, data closure, material handling, and disposal or preservation decisions.
Why decommissioning must be controlled
Removing an asset can affect:
- Safety
- Environment
- Production
- Spare-parts records
- Preventive maintenance
- Asset history
- Utilities
- Compliance
- Accounting
- Site layout
Typical activities
Decommissioning may include:
- Formal approval
- Isolation
- Cleaning and decontamination
- Removal of hazardous material
- Preservation for storage
- Dismantling
- Parts recovery
- Disposal
- Document updates
- CMMS status change
- PM cancellation
Practical example
An obsolete tank is drained, cleaned, isolated, removed from inspection schedules, documented, and either demolished or preserved for future use.
Data retention
Maintenance and compliance history may need to remain accessible after the asset is removed.
Common mistake
Deleting the asset record removes history and can break links to work orders, parts, calibration, and audit evidence.
Related concepts
Related maintenance terms
Keep exploring connected CMMS, reliability, and maintenance planning terms.
Asset Lifecycle Management
Asset lifecycle management is the coordinated management of an asset from need and acquisition through operation, maintenance, improvement, renewal, and disposal.
Asset Register
An asset register is the controlled list of equipment, systems, and maintainable items for which an organization needs identification, ownership, maintenance, and lifecycle records.
Audit Trail
An audit trail is a chronological record showing what information or status changed, when it changed, and which authorized user performed the action.
Glossary FAQs
- What is decommissioning?
The controlled removal of equipment from active service.
- Should the asset record be deleted?
No. History may need to remain accessible after removal.
- What happens to PM schedules?
They should be formally stopped or archived when the asset is no longer active.