Viewpoint: Embracing probability: could big data spell the end of safety factors as we know them?

This month's letters address the topics of responsibility for buildability of projects, the embodied carbon of steel and concrete, and carbon comparisons between materials, among others.

As the UK awaits a new National Annex to the second-generation EN 1991-1-3, Alastair Hughes and Stewart Macartney make a case for considering some important changes to the way snow is treated and argue for user-friendly, zoomable snow maps allowing local conditions to be factored into designs.

Alastair Hughes sets out a proposal to simplify the Eurocode approach to floor loads by moving from an occupancy-based categorisation to one based on loading.