ISO 20815:2008 introduces the concept of production assurance within the systems and operations associated with exploration drilling, exploitation, processing and transport of petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas resources. ISO 20815:2008 covers upstream (including subsea), midstream and downstream facilities and activities. It focuses on production assurance of oil and gas production, processing and associated activities and covers the analysis of reliability and maintenance of the components.

ISO 20815:2008 provides processes and activities, requirements and guidelines for systematic management, effective planning, execution and use of production assurance and reliability technology. This is to achieve cost-effective solutions over the life cycle of an asset-development project structured around the following main elements: production-assurance management for optimum economy of the facility through all of its life-cycle phases, while also considering constraints arising from health, safety, environment, quality and human factors; planning, execution and implementation of reliability technology; application of reliability and maintenance data; and reliability-based design and operation improvement.

For standards on equipment reliability and maintenance performance in general, see the IEC 60300-3 series.

ISO 20815:2008 designates 12 processes, of which seven are defined as core production-assurance processes and addressed in ISO 20815:2008. The remaining five processes are denoted as interacting processes and are outside the scope of ISO 20815:2008. The interaction of the core production-assurance processes with these interacting processes, however, is within the scope of ISO 20815:2008 as the information flow to and from these latter processes is required to ensure that production-assurance requirements can be fulfilled.

ISO 20815:2008 recommends that the listed processes and activities be initiated only if they can be considered to add value.

The only requirements mandated by ISO 20815:2008 are the establishment and execution of the production-assurance programme (PAP).