ABSTRACT
A major issue to be properly addressed by the integrated methodology is the need to extend the lifetime of products, structures and facilities and to monitor that this extension is done without degrading their safety levels of operation. Within the integrated methodological approach proposed, this entails the development of specific strategies and procedures tailored to each industry. This is achieved by modelling the reliability of the systems throughout their lifetime so as to be able to study the impact of new maintenance and repair schemes on system safety, life cycle costs, reliability, serviceability and quality. Proper methods for the assessment of existing structures and equipment must be integrated with proper approaches and criteria for extending their lifetime while maintaining the required safety levels and providing competitive levels of reliability and availability.
