Be realistic about the resources that you can dedicate to the project. To be successful, you need to involve experienced operators and technicians who understand the equipment, but these are exactly the same people who are in demand to keep the plant running.

1. Plan for staff unavailability due to work commitments, holidays, illness and so on. Aim to deliver on time even if there is some absence.
2. Allow for research time outside the review meetings
3. Check the availability of schematic drawings, manuals, hazard studies, manufacturers’ data and anything else that may be relevant. Verify that everything is up-to-date; if not, start to find the information now, rather than stalling the analysis once it is under way
4. Write down the analysis boundaries and stick to them. Don’t expand the project beyond these boundaries. If you realise that you need to analyse related systems, schedule another RCM group to deal with them
5. If you don’t have the resources that you need, don’t start. Either change the project to fit within resource availability or postpone it until you have all the resources that you need.