Functions and failures
Define required functions, performance standards, functional failures, failure modes and effects in the asset's actual operating context.
Expertise 03
Reliability / RCM
Failure-mode and consequence thinking used to improve maintenance decisions—connecting what an asset must do, how it can fail and which response is technically justified.
Working principleA maintenance task is valuable only when it addresses a credible failure mode at an effective interval and an acceptable level of risk.
Scope of practice
What the work focuses on.
Consequence-based decisions
Distinguish safety, environmental, operational and non-operational consequences before selecting a maintenance or redesign response.
Reliability data discipline
Use consistent equipment taxonomy, failure descriptions and maintenance records so experience can support repeatable analysis and improvement.
Evidence-led workflow
A disciplined path from question to verified action.
Each stage protects the quality of the conclusion. A technically correct measurement can still lead to a poor decision when operating context, machine design or maintenance history is ignored.
- 01Define functions and performance
State what the asset or system must do, for whom and under which operating conditions.
- 02Identify functional failures
Describe the ways the required function can be lost or degraded.
- 03Identify modes and effects
Record credible causes and what happens locally, to the system and to the operation.
- 04Evaluate consequences
Assess why each failure matters and which risk or performance objective requires protection.
- 05Select and review policy
Choose an applicable proactive task, failure-finding task, redesign or run-to-failure decision, then review effectiveness using evidence.
Standards foundation
Guidance before assumption.
These references establish the public technical foundation. The applicable machine-specific standard, OEM manual and site procedure always take priority for a real assessment.
SAE JA1011_202411Evaluation criteria for RCM processesMinimum criteria a process must meet to be called Reliability-Centered Maintenance.Official reference ↗ISO 14224:2016Reliability and maintenance dataStandardized equipment, failure and maintenance data for petroleum and petrochemical industries.Official reference ↗ISO 17359:2018Condition-monitoring programme guidanceConnects monitoring design to machinery-condition decisions.Official reference ↗
Public knowledge
Openly shared
- RCM concepts, terminology and decision logic
- Failure-mode and consequence-thinking examples
- Reliability-data quality and taxonomy principles
Controlled material
Professional access
- Plant RCM worksheets and maintenance strategies
- Asset-specific failure modes, risk rankings and task intervals
- Internal reliability data, performance gaps and improvement plans
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