Assessment Criteria for Existing Structures

Within short time, the Eurocodes will be accepted as the official rules for design of new structures in most European countries. Also for the existing stock Eurocodes will be a suitable starting point for the assessment as these codes are expected to be based on the best and most recent knowledge available. However, it would be uneconomical to require all existing buildings and civil engineering works like bridges to comply fully with these new codes. Already without the introduction of a set of new codes, the assessment of existing structures differs from the design situation. This paper describes the main differences with respect to the relevant reliability requirements and develops a set of partial factors that could be used in those cases.