Decision model for overview checking of engineering designs

Overview checking occurs whenever an engineering design is reviewed by another engineer without specifically carrying out checking calculations or following through the design process in detail. Results are reported herein of a survey examining the effectiveness of overview checking. The respondents were requested to assess whether a structural design should be considered “undersized”, “correct” or “oversized”. Using the responses as a basis, a decision model is proposed for the effectiveness of overview checking as a function of error magnitude and of checker's experience. It is concluded that correct assessment of a design as “safe” is not a function of experience. However, it appears that more experience is beneficial in selecting economical designs.