The document discusses the challenges of ensuring reliability at the nanometer scale in integrated circuit design. As process sizes shrink and complexity increases, new reliability issues emerge such as hot electron effects, oxide degradation, electromigration, latchup, electrostatic discharge, voltage drop, and soft errors. Current verification flows check for reliability issues after blocks are designed but finding problems late leads to redesign delays. The document proposes performing early reliability analysis during layout construction to detect problems earlier when fixes are easier and help designs reach signoff checks with fewer issues. This includes analyzing critical signals and looking ahead during construction to create signoff-ready designs from the start.