ABSTRACT
Design Assurance Through Design Practice (DATDP) is an engineering approach that emphasizes the use of a good design philosophy to engender solid engineering practices and methodologies to promote safe and reliable designs. DO-254 defines design assurance as a methodology for identifying and correcting errors as a way to satisfy the regulatory requirements. In many respects the DO-254 definition summarizes much of the content of DO-254, including the lack of specific technical guidance. The DO-254 definition of design assurance, when considered against the entire scope of high reliability system design, addresses what could be considered the “back end” of design assurance. It is essentially reactive in that it focuses mainly on the quantitative process of detecting and eliminating errors after they have occurred or been otherwise introduced into the design. Design assurance as presented in DO-254 is implemented through multiple means at multiple points in the design process, as well as at various levels of project execution.
