SURFACE VEHICLE/ JA1012

ISSUED
JAN2002
AEROSPACE
400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001
RECOMMENDED Issued 2002-01
PRACTICE

A Guide to the Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) Standard

Foreword—Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) was first documented in a report written by F.S. Nowlan and
H.F. Heap of United Airlines and published by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1978. It described the then-
current state-of-the-art processes used to develop maintenance programs for commercial aircraft. Since then, the
RCM process has been widely used by other industries, and has been extensively refined and developed. These
refinements have been incorporated into numerous application documents, published by a variety of organizations
around the world. Many of these documents remain faithful to the basic principles of RCM as expounded by
Nowlan and Heap.

However in the development of some of these documents, key elements of the RCM process have been omitted
or misinterpreted. Due to the growing popularity of RCM, other processes have emerged that have been given the
name “RCM” by their proponents, but that are not based on Nowlan and Heap at all. While most of these
processes may achieve some of the goals of RCM, a few are actively counterproductive, and some are even
dangerous.

As a result, there has been a growing international demand for a standard that sets out the criteria that any
process must comply with in order to be called “RCM.” SAE JA1011 meets that need. However SAE JA1011
presupposes a high degree of familiarity with the concepts and terminology of RCM. This Guide amplifies, and
where necessary clarifies, those key concepts and terms, especially those that are unique to RCM.

Note that this Guide is not intended to be a manual or a procedural guide for performing RCM. Those who wish to
apply RCM are strongly encouraged to study the subject in greater detail, and to develop their competency under
the guidance of experienced RCM practitioners.

SAE Technical Standards Board Rules provide that: “This report is published by SAE to advance the state of technical and engineering sciences. The use of this report is entirely
voluntary, and its applicability and suitability for any particular use, including any patent infringement arising therefrom, is the sole responsibility of the user.”

SAE reviews each technical report at least every five years at which time it may be reaffirmed, revised, or cancelled. SAE invites your written comments and suggestions.

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Copyright 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
 SAE JA1012 Issued JAN2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Scope........................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Organization of the Guide .........................................................................................................................4

2. References ...............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Applicable Documents ..............................................................................................................................4
2.2 Related Publications ................................................................................................................................. 4
2.3 Other Publications ....................................................................................................................................5

3. Definitions .................................................................................................................................................5

4. Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................................7

5. Asset Definition .........................................................................................................................................7

6. Functions ..................................................................................................................................................8
6.1 Operating Context .....................................................................................................................................8
6.2 List of Functions ........................................................................................................................................9
6.3 Describing Functions .............................................................................................................................. 11
6.4 Performance Standards.......................................................................................................................... 11

7. Functional Failures ................................................................................................................................. 13

7.1 Partial and Total Failure.......................................................................................................................... 13
7.2 Upper and Lower Limits.......................................................................................................................... 14

8. Failure Modes ......................................................................................................................................... 14

8.1 Identifying Failure Modes ........................................................................................................................14
8.2 Establishing What is Meant by “Reasonably Likely” .............................................................................. 15
8.3 Levels of Causation ................................................................................................................................ 16
8.4 Sources of Information ............................................................................................................................18
8.5 Types of Failure Modes .......................................................................................................................... 18

9. Failure Effects ......................................................................................................................................... 19

9.1 Basic Assumptions ................................................................................................................................. 19
9.2 Information Needed ................................................................................................................................ 19

10. Failure Consequence Categories ...........................................................................................................21

10.1 Consequence Categories ....................................................................................................................... 21
10.2 Assessing Failure Consequences .......................................................................................................... 25

11. Failure Managmement Policy Selection ................................................................................................. 25

11.1 The Relationship between Age and Failure ............................................................................................ 25
11.2 Technically Feasible and Worth Doing ................................................................................................... 26
11.3 Cost Effectiveness .................................................................................................................................. 26
11.4 Failure Management Policy Selection ....................................................................................................26

12. Failure Consequence Management ........................................................................................................ 26

12.1 Evident Failure Modes with Safety or Environmental Consequences .................................................... 26
12.2 Hidden Failure Modes with Safety or Environmental Consequences ..................................................... 29
12.3 Evident Failure Modes with Economic Consequences........................................................................... 29
12.4 Hidden Failure Modes with Economic Consequences............................................................................30

13. Failure Management Policies—Scheduled Tasks .................................................................................. 30

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