Risk analysis of balconies and parapets in timber buildings decay prediction

The durability of timber structures when subjected to biotic attacks is becoming of increasing concern due to several recent examples of failures caused by early degradation. In the work presented herein, the decay of the timber components of the balcony and the parapet, was predicted through a risk analysis where five risk classes were identified and combined with an appropriate decay function. The main parameters that affect the durability of the balcony were isolated and used to calibrate a decision tree that enables the assignment of a risk class to the balcony depending on its construction characteristics. The risk classes were defined based on a thorough review of the major European standards addressing timber “use-classes” and the decay functions were selected among suitable functions available in the literature. The obtained results were used to define a detailed inspection plan, with the aim of defining an optimized monitoring strategy for timber balconies. This study is part of the TSafe project, that is aimed at quantifying the life expectancy of timber buildings.