Condition monitoring · Free
Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull
The reliability engineer's toolkit for plants, utilities and oil and gas: failure rate, MTBF and availability, failure patterns and the P-F curve, criticality, equipment FMECA, the seven questions of reliability-centred maintenance with task selection and failure-finding intervals, root cause analysis with 5 Whys, fishbones, logic trees and fault trees, Weibull analysis by hand and in Python, block diagrams, spares, bad actors, precision maintenance and KPIs.
Inside the course
From the lessons
What a reliability engineer does: failure, strategy and the numbers that matter
RCM Training with Nancy Regan
Failure patterns, the P-F curve and asset criticality
Engineering Presentations
RCM part 1: functions, functional failures, failure modes and effects
RCM Training with Nancy Regan
Task intervals, failure-finding and the living RCM programme
RCM Training with Nancy Regan
Root cause analysis 2: logic trees, fault trees and the RCA report
Reliability Center Inc. PROACT® Root Cause Analysis Training, Consulting, Templates & Software
Weibull analysis 2: suspensions, Python and maintenance decisions
Institute of Quality and Reliability
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Calculate MTBF, failure rate, reliability and availability from plant records; explain the six failure patterns and set inspection intervals from the P-F interval; rank assets by criticality; write an equipment FMECA; run an RCM analysis through the seven questions, choose tasks and default actions and calculate failure-finding intervals; lead a root cause analysis with 5 Whys, a fishbone, a logic tree and a fault tree; fit Weibull distributions with suspensions by hand and in Python and turn them into replacement and spares decisions; calculate system reliability from block diagrams; size spares with the Poisson model; find bad actors; and track a reliability programme with leading and lagging KPIs.
- Calculate MTBF, MTTR, failure rate, reliability and availability from plant failure records
- Explain the six failure patterns and set on-condition intervals from the P-F interval
- Rank assets by criticality and write an equipment FMECA with severity read first
- Run an RCM analysis through the seven questions and choose tasks and default actions
- Calculate failure-finding intervals for protective devices from MTBF and tolerable unavailability
- Lead a root cause analysis with 5 Whys, a fishbone, a logic tree and a fault tree
- Fit Weibull distributions with suspensions by hand and in Python and pick a replacement age
- Size spares with the Poisson model, find bad actors and track leading and lagging KPIs
For you
Taking Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$28.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project · about 14 hours
RCM study of a duty and standby condensate pump pair: FMECA, RCM decisions, seal Weibull, RCA and spares
Carry out a reliability study of two condensate export pumps that keep failing their mechanical seals: set the operating context, write the FMECA, run the RCM decisions with task intervals and a failure-finding interval, fit a Weibull to the seal lives with suspensions, investigate the repeat seal failures, size the seal spares and propose the KPIs. The sample pack shows each document for a gas processing plant near Sohar, Oman.
Sample document pack, 5 documents, filled in for the scenario
- PlanRCM study plan and operating context: condensate export pumps P-410A/B
- FMEAFMECA: condensate export pump set P-410A/B
- RegisterRCM decision worksheet: condensate export pumps P-410A/B
- ReportSeal life analysis, replacement interval and spares: P-410A/B and sister pumps
- ReportRoot cause analysis: repeat mechanical seal leaks on P-410A/B
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
15 modules · 53 lessons · 8h 56m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01What a reliability engineer does: failure, strategy and the numbers that matter3 lessons10m
- 02Reliability maths: failure rate, MTBF, the bathtub and the exponential model4 lessons36m
- 03Failure patterns, the P-F curve and asset criticality5 lessons21m
- 04Equipment FMEA and FMECA4 lessons40m
- 05RCM part 1: functions, functional failures, failure modes and effects4 lessons18m
- 06RCM part 2: consequences, task selection and default actions4 lessons22m
- 07Task intervals, failure-finding and the living RCM programme4 lessons1h 4m
- 08Root cause analysis 1: defining the problem, 5 Whys and the fishbone4 lessons29m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. For maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrument engineers and senior technicians moving into reliability roles. You need school algebra, logarithms and a spreadsheet; Python is used in one module and every step is shown. A year or more in a maintenance or operations team helps but is not required.
- Software
- A spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc is free) for the maths, the FMECA and the RCM worksheets. Python 3 with the free reliability and SciPy libraries for Weibull analysis (Google Colab runs it in a browser with nothing to install). Commercial RCM and life data tools are shown in some lessons but are not needed. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None. Any laptop with a browser is enough.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
A spreadsheet is enough for every calculation except the Weibull fit, and the Weibull module runs in Google Colab in a browser (pip install reliability). Commercial RCM and life data software is not needed.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org - 02Free, GPU time not guaranteed
Google Colab
Google, in the browser
- Runs on
- Any modern web browser
- Account
- A free Google account
Colab is free to use. In the free version GPUs and TPUs are heavily restricted and not guaranteed, sessions can run for at most 12 hours, and idle sessions are stopped. Paid plans give more reliable access.
Steps
- 1.Open colab.research.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
- 2.Click New notebook (or open the notebook your course links to).
- 3.For a GPU, choose Runtime, then Change runtime type, then pick a GPU if one is offered.
- 4.Type code in a cell and press Shift and Enter to run it.
- Save a copy to your Google Drive so your changes are kept.
- Files on the runtime are deleted when the session ends. Save outputs to Drive.
Open Google Colabcolab.research.google.com - 03Free
Python
Python Software Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows (not Windows 7 or earlier), macOS and Linux. Windows builds for x64, 32-bit and Arm64.
- Account
- None needed
Python is free, open source software. You can use it for learning and for commercial work at no cost.
Steps
- 1.Open python.org/downloads and click the download button for your system.
- 2.On Windows, run the Python install manager (or the classic 64-bit installer) you downloaded.
- 3.If you use the classic installer, tick "Add python.exe to PATH" on the first screen, then click Install Now.
- 4.Open a new Command Prompt or Terminal and run: python --version (on Windows you can also run: py --version).
- 5.Install packages with pip, for example: python -m pip install requests
- pip comes with Python. Run it as python -m pip so it always matches the Python you are using.
- Python.org now recommends the Python install manager on Windows. If it offers to add its folder to PATH, say yes so the python command works everywhere.
- Make a virtual environment for each project: python -m venv .venv
Official download pagepython.orgAlternatives
- Anaconda Distribution: Python with 600+ data science packages and Jupyter already included.
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull at a glance
Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrument engineers and senior technicians moving into reliability roles in oil and gas, utilities, mining and manufacturing. It has 15 modules and 8h 56m of video lessons by RCM Training with Nancy Regan, Engineering Presentations, CQE Academy and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrument engineers and senior technicians moving into reliability roles in oil and gas, utilities, mining and manufacturing
- Format
- 15 self-paced modules, 8h 56m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. For maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrument engineers and senior technicians moving into reliability roles. You need school algebra, logarithms and a spreadsheet; Python is used in one module and every step is shown. A year or more in a maintenance or operations team helps but is not required.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- A spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc is free) for the maths, the FMECA and the RCM worksheets. Python 3 with the free reliability and SciPy libraries for Weibull analysis (Google Colab runs it in a browser with nothing to install). Commercial RCM and life data tools are shown in some lessons but are not needed.
- Hardware
- None. Any laptop with a browser is enough.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- RCM Training with Nancy Regan, Engineering Presentations, CQE Academy, eMaint, Noria, UpKeep, RAMS Ready, IsographSoftware, Master Reliability - FRAME-D, IBM Technology, Lean Enterprise Institute, EPM, Skill Torque, Reliability Center Inc., Institute of Quality and Reliability, Prelical Solutions LLC, Cristian Rosa, PetroSkills, Phillip Slater, Energy Risk Engineering, ARMS Reliability, Maintenologist, Limble (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
FreePLC programming · FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
FreePLC programming · FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
FreePLC programming · FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
FreeInstrumentation · FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free maintenance and reliability courses
Learner reviews
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
What is this reliability engineering course?
It is a free-to-learn, self-paced course in reliability-centred maintenance (RCM), root cause analysis (RCA) and Weibull analysis for industrial plant. It takes you from MTBF and availability through FMECA, the seven RCM questions, failure-finding intervals, logic trees and fault trees, to Weibull fitting in Python, spares sizing and reliability KPIs, with notes, worked problems and a pump case study.
Who is the reliability engineering course for?
It is for maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrument engineers and senior technicians who want to move into a reliability engineer role in oil and gas, utilities, mining, water, chemicals or manufacturing. Planners and condition monitoring technicians who want to understand why tasks and intervals are chosen will also find it useful.
Do I need any prerequisites or paid software?
No paid software is needed: a spreadsheet such as LibreOffice Calc and Python with the free reliability and SciPy libraries are enough, and Google Colab runs the Python in a browser. You need school algebra and logarithms; the one Python module shows every line, and a year in a maintenance or operations team helps but is not required.
Which standards does the course follow?
The course follows the IEC and ISO reliability standards in our own words: IEC 60300-3-11 for RCM, IEC 60812 for FMEA and FMECA, IEC 61025 for fault trees, IEC 61078 for block diagrams, IEC 61649 for Weibull analysis, ISO 14224 for failure data and ISO 55000 for asset management. It also explains the SAE JA1011 criteria for RCM and the MIL-STD-1629A criticality method; none of their text is reproduced.
How long does the Reliability Engineering course take?
About 16 hours at your own pace: just under 9 hours of video plus notes, worked problems and practice tasks across 14 modules and a final assessment. The optional pump RCM project takes about 14 hours more.
Is the course free, and what certificate do I get?
The course is free to learn, and you can earn a verifiable certificate of completion by finishing the modules and passing the 15-question final at 60 percent. Each certificate has a unique number, a QR code and a public verification page that shows the course, the modules covered and the final score.
Does this course prepare me for the CMRP exam?
It covers much of the knowledge in the equipment reliability pillar of the SMRP body of knowledge, so it is useful CMRP preparation for that pillar, but it is not the CMRP. The CMRP is a separate professional certification awarded by SMRP after its own exam, and the EDWartens certificate is a certificate of completion.
What job does reliability engineering lead to, and is it in demand in the Gulf?
It leads to reliability engineer, maintenance and reliability engineer and asset integrity roles, and RCM, RCA and Weibull are among the skills those job adverts ask for most. Gas processing, refining, petrochemical, power and water operators in the Gulf and across Africa, Asia and the Americas run RCM and RCA programmes and hire engineers who can do this work.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Reliability Engineering: RCM, Root Cause Analysis, Weibull
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$28.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- RCM Training with Nancy Reganthe RCM in a Nutshell series: the airline origins of RCM, functions and operating context, functional failures and failure modes, failure effects, the decision diagram, consequences, default strategies, the living programme and case studies
- Engineering Presentationsthe CMRP pillar 3 lessons on system reliability, MTTR, the P-F curve, predictive maintenance, asset criticality, FMEA, the seven RCM questions, fault tree analysis, reliability block diagrams, reliability growth models and lubricant films
- CQE Academyfailure rate, MTTF, MTBF, the bathtub curve and the exponential and Weibull distributions
- eMaintMTBF, MTTF and MTTR as maintenance KPIs
- Noriawhat a criticality analysis is and why it comes first
- UpKeepa step-by-step guide to criticality analysis in maintenance
- RAMS Readythe columns, limits and variants of an FMECA worksheet
- IsographSoftwareexecuting an FMECA inside an RCM study, and the webinar on RCM introduction and cost optimisation
- Master Reliability - FRAME-Da deeper look at failure mode, effects and criticality analysis
- IBM Technologywhat root cause analysis is and how it is run
- Lean Enterprise Institutehow the 5 Whys method is meant to be used
- EPMthe fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram with a worked example
- Skill Torqueroot cause failure analysis in a maintenance setting
- Reliability Center Inc.the PROACT logic tree method: basic failure analysis, solving chronic failures and the boiler feed pump case study
- Institute of Quality and Reliabilityfault tree analysis, the Weibull distribution, probability plotting with median ranks, right-censored data and free open-source Weibull software
- Prelical Solutions LLCthe overview of Weibull analysis that opens the Weibull modules
- Cristian Rosareliability data analysis in Python
- PetroSkillsthe webinar on using Weibull analysis to improve equipment reliability
- Phillip Slaterhow to identify critical spare parts
- Energy Risk Engineeringbuilding a critical spare parts management system
- ARMS Reliabilitypredicting optimal spare parts holding levels
- Maintenologistprecision maintenance and why it stops installing tomorrow's failures
- Limblethe maintenance KPIs that matter
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.