Leitlinien für die Erstellung anwendungsfreundlicher Tragwerksnormen

Guidelines for the development of structural design codes.

Due to the amount and complexity of the documents the situation with structural design codes is rather unsatisfactory for practitioners. On the initiative of the Association of Consulting Engineers (VBI) and the Federal Association of Checking Engineers for Structural Design (BVPI) a project financed by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) was carried out which resulted in the report "Elaboration of Guidelines for the Development of user-friendly and practical Design Codes". This work is aimed at contributing to more consistent codes as well as code working processes for instance in the upcoming revision of the Eurocodes. The guidelines comprise a description of the current situation with respect to technical and organizational aspects. Subsequently, general requirements are revealed and proposals for a uniform structure of the documents and simplifications of the design and combination rules are made. Furthermore, it is illustrated that efficient code working processes are possible only in a more professional environment where code drafting is scheduled and remunerated similarly to an engineering contract. Finally, some advice for optimizing the code working processes in the national and international context is given.