Timber Balcony Monitoring Plan: Review and Step-by-Step Procedure

The aim of this paper is to present a step-by-step procedure for defining an accurate and revised monitoring plan for timber balconies. This methodology was defined and tested on 58 balconies with a timber beam structure but can be adapted to a CLT structure. The primary goal is to evaluate and control fungal decay of the various components, enabling preventive and planned interventions before significant damage occurs. Inspection intervals are determined through a prediction model of the progression of decay. The procedure is divided into three phases: a preliminary study and coding stage; an inspection stage, in which conditions are also assessed through non-destructive testing (NTD); and a post-elaboration stage, which is useful for defining interventions and the monitoring plan. These phases have been updated, standardised, and summarised in a procedural flowchart, with new supporting forms developed. The paper concludes with the application of this procedure to a real case study.