In general, the performance of a component degrades as time goes by and failure of a component occurs when the performance degradation reaches a pre-specified level. It is difficult to obtain the failure time distribution data or the necessary number of failure data especially for the metal or machine part. Thus, a design of reliability qualification test based on performance distribution is more effective than failure time distribution. In this study, a performance-based reliability qualification test is developed and a numerical example is provided to illustrate the use of the developed reliability qualification test. This approach could be applied to many kinds of metal or machine part whose magnitude of strength could not be evaluated during at any random points but judgement can be made by only failure of the part. Besides, it is also possible that any parts which have a similar failure characteristics could be applicable to the developed reliability qualification test.