What is the primary distinction between compliance-based maintenance and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)?

• A. Compliance maintenance meets minimum regulatory requirements; RCM optimizes maintenance based on failure modes and consequences to improve reliability.
• B. Compliance maintenance is always more expensive than RCM.
• C. RCM focuses only on regulatory compliance; maintenance optimization is separate.
• D. Compliance maintenance is proactive; RCM is reactive.

Answer: (A)