The Particular Importance of Safety

Among these quality characteristics, safety is of particular importance. This can be seen clearly from the division of property damage according to quality characteristics (limited to the load-bearing structure), shown here in percentage terms : 94 per cent sudden failure of the load-bearing structure for buildings (mainly safety problems)

6 per cent unsatisfactory condition of the structure, such as cracks, deflection, corrosion, wear, etc. (mainly problems of serviceability and durability) Many building specialists today still equate safety with the 'safety factor'.

This is hardly surprising, since the safety factor is basically the only safety concept that the building specialist encounters during training and in practice. It is thus assumed that structure is guaranteed safe if the calculated safety factor corresponds with that given in the standards documentation. It is not sufficient to regard safety as a concept limited to mathematical verification in this way.

This view may hide a possible lack of safety. What is the use of a safety calculation if, for example, the decisive actions - --- are not taken into consideration or the measures taken -are improperly implemented or ineffective? Studies of accidents and structural collapses clearly show that structures can fail despite a 'safety calculation'. Safety is a quality characteristic and should therefore not be restricted to being a mathematical factor.