Metrological reliability in measurement

The presentation of the main results attained today in the field of metrological reliability must be preceded by isolating some principal problems. The first concerns the reliability of measurements and the reliability of measuring instruments, while the second concerns the definition of the metrological failure. The third problem is to do with the classification of characteristics of the metrological reliability.The paper will discuss that part of the metrological reliability which deals with the hardware, that is, with instrumental reliability. Basic models used in metrological reliability will be evaluated. A relevant aim of the paper is to describe the present state and to express some new ideas about the future development of metrological reliability.