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The Structural Engineer, Volume 69, Issue 7, 1991
A variety of opinions were expressed by the participants at the Cambridge colloquium, as they had been asked to present their thoughts on design life from different viewpoints. The debates ranged widely as new opinions were outlined. For this colloquium the main opinions have been assembled and examined by pairs of presenters as client requirements, legal and organisational, and technical considerations. It is evident that there is considerable agreement on some of the principles and some of the difficulties which the concept of design life entails. So how best to make progress and signpost the way ahead? D.W. Quinion
There are probably relatively few cases where a client and designer embark on a project with an explicit statement of working life, and in the absence of reliable data on the service life and maintenance costs of various forms of construction, a client may take the easy option of accepting contemporary norms of quality, which may imply no more than the minimum to comply with statutes and national standards. H.P. Webber
When considering the life to be expected from a structure before any major repairs are needed, it is important to remember that most structures are likely to require some maintenance during their service lives. This is especially true where structures are exposed to the demanding conditions of the natural environment as well as having to cope with often onerous ‘manmade’ loading. A structure could in particular circumstances be designed with a very limited life in view and with no provision for maintenance, but such structures are the exception rather than the rule. D.A. Holland