General rules
Concept of robustness and risk in constructions

Safety in relation to a hazard is ensured provided the hazard is controlled by appropriate measures, or the risk is limited to an "acceptable" value. It should be noted that there is no such thing as total or absolute safety (SIA definition – 1989). Safety is obviously a qualitative concept: its definition concerns several groups of people or stakeholders: construction personnel, users of the structure, people located in the vicinity of the structure, etc.

A major omission in the current version of the Eurocodes is the strength, robustness and, of course, durability of structures during construction or just before commissioning.

For most new structures, calculation in accordance with Eurocodes (and under cover of quality execution) provides an adequate level of robustness without the need for additional calculation measures to reinforce...