A Knowledge Based Survey of Buildings for Structural Reliability Evaluations

The last disastrous events occurred also recently in Italy, characterised from the collapse of constructions also built in relatively recent, in absence of exceptional actions, have proposed the problem of the dangerousness of great part of the existing building patrimony and the necessity therefore to develop criteria of control of fast type. As it is well known, in presence of only permanent actions and of those variable ones within the serviceability limits, and excluding therefore causes as the fire, the collision of vehicles or aeroplanes, the earthquake or other natural events of extraordinary entity, have taken place numerous structural failures, also without warning, often arousing a reasonable alarm in the public opinion, to the point to speed up the institution of instruments of law in a position to preventing such catastrophic events. In this paper one proposed methodological of evaluation of the state of structural reliability of a construction is introduced that re-enters in the spirit of performance foretold from such legislative instruments. The proposal is confirmed from one series of useful numerical tests for its validation.