Most life-cycle cost is committed early
By the time an asset reaches operations, access, redundancy, instrumentation, materials, lubrication points, spare philosophy and safe isolation are largely fixed. Maintenance can optimize inside those boundaries, but it cannot cheaply redraw them.
Reliability centered design asks the RCM questions before purchase: what functions must this system deliver in its real context, how can it fail, what are the consequences, and which design feature can eliminate or control the risk?
Put reliability evidence into project gates
| Gate | Reliability evidence |
|---|---|
| Concept | Operating context, critical functions, consequence criteria, redundancy philosophy |
| Basic design | Functional FMEA / RCM screen, maintainability and human-factors review |
| Detailed design | Component failure modes, access, condition-monitoring provisions, spares and task concept |
| Factory acceptance | Critical requirements traced to tests and documented exceptions |
| Commissioning | Installation precision, clean systems, baseline condition and defect close-out |
| Handover | Verified asset data, maintenance plans, drawings, parts and competence |
Write requirements that can be accepted
“High reliability” cannot be tested. Good requirements are tied to function, context and evidence: safe bearing replacement without removing adjacent piping; sampling point located in a representative turbulent zone; alignment achievable without pipe strain; critical failure detectable with installed instrumentation; asset hierarchy and bill of material delivered in importable format.
Project rule
Every critical reliability requirement needs an owner, a verification method and a gate. If it cannot fail a review or acceptance test, it is an aspiration, not a requirement.
Commissioning is the first maintenance event
Many “random” early failures are installation and commissioning defects: contamination, soft foot, misalignment, incorrect lubricant, wiring errors and missing baselines. Treat commissioning as controlled defect elimination, with as-left measurements and exceptions resolved before operational acceptance.
Then close the loop. Feed early-life defects and maintenance history back into design standards and approved equipment specifications. Five stars because the leverage is exceptional: one verified design change can remove thousands of future work hours.
References & further reading
This page is original explanatory writing. Follow the sources for the complete material and context.
- Reliabilityweb. From a Different Angle: Defects, P-F and the Rest of the Story. Open source
- IEC. IEC 60300-3-11 — RCM application guide summary. Open source
- ISO. ISO 55001 asset management overview. Open source
Disclaimer. This independent educational summary is written entirely in Rob Reliability's own words. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or organizations cited. No source figures or substantial source text are reproduced. This page is a field guide, not a substitute for the originals.
Build maintainability and failure logic into the plan
We translate functions, failure modes and evidence requirements into a maintainable strategy.