Author Description

"First published in 1996 as Risk and Reliability: An Introductory Text, the R2A text went through the first transition to a due diligence text in 2010 when the 8th edition was published. This 10th edition in 2015 completes the transition to a wholly due diligence based text and has therefore been renamed Engineering Due Diligence. The original purpose of the text in 1996 was to facilitate the teaching of risk and reliability techniques. Then it became necessary to explain what the strengths and weaknesses of the different risk management approaches were and what, where and when was the best technique to be used. This needed to extend to different domains, fire, safety, project, environment, security, finance and others. Case studies were added. More universities used it as a reference with some using it as a primary text in health and safety, systems engineering and risk management. Keeping it current became important. All the while there has been an increasing emphasis on legal aspects. This was done on a very pragmatic basis. It was always clear that if legal counsel supported the recommendations of the engineers then the CEO and Board, and the Minister and Cabinet were always agreeable. Otherwise the engineers could be accused of exaggeration or worse still, 'gold plating'. The concept that was used to achieve this outcome was that of 'due diligence'. This became the aim with risk and reliability techniques as the tools facilitating the journey. And as the commissions received by R2A became larger, more complex and challenging, the approach was refined as its application broadened. Due diligence is a legal concept. It has its genesis in the common law as a defence against negligence. Engineering due diligence means the reverse engineering of the decisions of our courts. It means aligning the laws of man with the laws of nature, prior to the event with the positive support of lawyers. This requires that the principles and processes the courts use need to be under