ABSTRACT
Risk-based design of structures can be based on lifetime cost-optimization, which involves balancing the future costs with the benefits of safety investments. However, such calculations are impractical for most individual projects due to complexity and computational challenges. In normal design conditions, the explicit cost-benefit assessment has been replaced by precalculated maximum levels of failure probability (i.e., target reliability levels). For fire design, these targets have not been defined. In this study, target reliabilities for fire design are specified by generalizing optimum reliabilities obtained through lifetime cost-optimization. First, the influence of the appropriate parameters on the optimum reliability level is investigated. This is followed by the evaluation of target reliabilities considering the variability in parameters influencing lifetime cost for common types of structures.
