Implications For Structural Reliability As Indicated By In-Service Observations Of Timber Durability

The NZ Building Code highlights the need for designers to consider structural durability. Its present prescriptive approach to durability design inhibits innovation and extrapolation. A design procedure for durability considerations is being developed in Australia but it requires models which relate structural performance of building materials to environmental conditions. Some such models already exist for the resistance of timber to insect or fungal attack, and for adhesives, but need to be developed further to be useful for design by the Australian procedure.