Reviewing the current status towards the exploitation of fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) in structural engineering the author considers the benefits and challenges for using performance based design with this newer construction material. This paper reports historical case studies in the context of explaining how processing technologies and design know-how have slowly been developing, and perhaps even leading to a level of maturity. By way of the review of FRP components and structures it is found that we do not yet possess the prescriptive rules that dominate the current execution of civil engineering works. One outcome from the review is to identify that such rules will be necessary to allow routine design of frame structures of universal (standard) FRP shapes. The author introduces the benefits and challenges towards the adoption of Performance Based Design (PBD) and finds that targeted research and development has/is using the PBD philosophy to produce bespoke FRP components and systems towards a growing number of applications in structural engineering J. Toby Mottram, DSc, CEng, FIStructE School of Engineering, Warwick University, Coventry, CV4 7AL