What is the basic economic rule relevant to risk and cost in asset maintenance?

The basic economic rule relevant to risk and cost in asset maintenance revolves around evaluating the cost implications associated with asset performance and potential failures. The correct choice highlights that the cost of performing a maintenance task should be less than the cost incurred from failures over a specified time period.

This principle recognizes that investments in maintenance or preventive measures should not exceed the benefits derived from avoiding failures. If the maintenance costs are lower than the expected cost of failure—which includes lost production, repair costs, safety and environmental impacts, and ramifications on asset longevity—then it makes economic sense to perform the maintenance. This decision-making process helps organizations optimize resources and balance costs against risks to achieve reliability.

In contrast, the other options do not correctly embody this economic principle; they either overstate the necessity of anticipating failures regardless of cost, misrepresent the relationship between task performance and failure costs, or ignore the variable nature of costs associated with asset performance.