AMP (Asset Management Period)

The Asset Management Period (AMP) is the five-year regulatory cycle that governs UK water company capital investment. Each AMP runs from April 1 to March 31 five years later — AMP7 ran 2020-2025, AMP8 runs 2025-2030. Ofwat's price review process agrees the capital programme and associated customer tariffs at the start of each period, and water companies are then accountable for delivering that programme efficiently within the agreed funding envelope.

The AMP structure has specific project controls implications. Capital programmes must be scoped, priced, sequenced and risked at the start of the period for regulatory submission; delivery must be tracked against the committed programme with visibility to Ofwat; and unspent or overspent capital at AMP end carries regulatory consequences. Water company controls functions are designed around this cycle — portfolio reporting formats, cost allocation structures, and assurance cadences all reflect Ofwat's regulatory expectations.

For project controls practitioners working in UK water, understanding the AMP framework is essential. QRA on a water capital portfolio needs to produce confidence positions at portfolio level, not just individual project level, because the regulatory commitment is to the portfolio's total delivery. Scope and cost changes within an AMP need to be managed against the price review commitment, and the totex framework (combined capex and opex) that Ofwat uses to assess efficiency means cost reporting structures must support totex disclosure as well as internal cost management.