Abstract—This paper proposes a statistical approach to the inspection checklist formal synthesis and improvement. The approach is based on a defect casual analysis and defect modeling. The defect model is developed using IBM's Orthogonal Defect Classification. The case study describes the steps and tool for the approach implementation. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods —empirical and statistical—are discussed and compared. It is suggested that a statistical approach be used in conjunction with the empirical approach. The main advantage of the proposed technique is that it allows us to tune a checklist according to the most recent project experience and identify optimal checklist items even when a source document does not exist.