Developments towards full probabilistic design codes

The Joint Committee on Structural Safety has recently developed a Model Code for full probabilistic design. The code consists out of three parts: a basis of design part, a part for the probabilistic modeling of actions and a part for the modeling of materials. The code is intended as the operational part of codes like ISO, Eurocodes and other national codes that allow for probabilistic design but do not give any detailed guidance. The code gives no information, however, on mechanical models like buckling, shear capacity, foundation failure and so on. These models should be obtained from the textbooks, literature or normal standards. This publication will give a short summary of the code and present some simple examples of its use. The last section discusses some future developments. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.