A critical appraisal of codes as vehicles for realising on-site quality

A critical appraisal of codes as vehicles for realising on-site quality

Van Breugel, K.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Structural Engineering

2014-02-10

The increasing demand for quality, durability and sustainability requires a critical evaluation of currently used building codes. Although there is no doubt that we need codes, standards, certificates etc., the existence of these documents are no guarantee that the prescribed quality is realized on the building site. In this paper the essential ingredients for ensuring that the required quality and performance of a structure is realized will be discussed. The responsibility issue will be addressed, as well as a number of other parameters of which the relation with quality is undeniable, but which are still difficult to quantify. The role of simulation and predictive models and the potential of serious gaming in view of achieving quality goals will be addressed. It will be emphasized that neither codes nor models can replace the responsibility of individuals for the required quality. With respect to the role of codes and models it is remarked that overestimating them may result in unjustified expectations about the performance of a material or structure. Underestimating the role of these tools may lead to scepticism and in the end unjustified negative judgment of the role science may have for enhancing the quality of the built environment.

codes
models
performance-based
prescriptive
quality
responsibility
serious gaming

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5c560555-8acc-446b-b798-ab1ef1a6dfa8

Universities Press

978-81-7371-919-6

Proceedings of the 4th International FIB Congress, Mumbai, India, 10-14 February 2014; Authors version

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2014 The Author(s)