Vlad,
What you are referring to, I believe, are mechanical options such as check valves and non-reversing ratchets or clutches, the latter more used on large turbine or deepwell vertical pumps. These are used to mechanically prevent the pump and motor from reversing due to backlash when stopped and the fluid head "falls". Or if the positive head pressure builds, say against a closed valve, creating back pressure. Or if the motor single phases, for instance. Some pumps may also have special seals or trust bearings which reversing could damage. There is also the risk of certain threaded impellers unscrewing from the shaft when reversed. But the above measures are just designed to mechanically prevent reversing. They cannot, of course, prevent reverse direction wiring of the motor leads, say at commissioning. That is why for many pump applications it is manufacturer recommended and necessary to verify the motor direction before it is coupled to the pump assembly.
So if a ratchet or clutch was fitted to this pump application then the pump/motor could only physically rotate in the correct direction. Such mechanical measures would not prevent you changing direction to get the pump rotating in that correct direction, which I think you might be implying?
If just using say check valves, or of course nothing at all, it would be possible to swap motor leads and observe the pump rotating in the reverse direction.
Depending on the type of pump we're talking about here, and the available "optics" while attempting to change direction in order to get it to to go in the correct direction; I would be curious to know how it is being determined that it is running in "reverse" since the drive was changed, and that it is not changing direction when 2 motor leads are swapped? For instance, is there an arrow on the pump casing and the impeller is visibly turning in the wrong direction. Or is the actual pump direction not visible and there is just no flow observed, or some other erroneous observation? Is there noise, vibration, heat observed? High current measured, pumps in tandem, and so on. Is the pump motor single phasing, perhaps? Why was the drive changed? Was it considered faulty when perhaps the root cause is in the field? Or was it upsized and if so, was the pump, meaning recommissioning required? Lots to consider and guess at here.
It's not to say our friend is inexperienced. It's just we don't know their level of experience and we many of us have met those cases where folks are a little misguided or perhaps "Green". For instance, if you know how swapping 2 phases on a 3 phase motor should definitely change its direction, regardless of a drive, then your experienced focus should remain on why the motor is not reversing for you, if that is actually the case, and not be quickly diverted to, or falling back to, trying to mitigate the field issue with a reverse direction command in the drive.
If experienced, this is lazy. If inexperienced, bravo for trying to "think on your toes". But it is still misguided.
Regards,
George