State of research

Up to now, fire restoration measures have mainly focussed on mineral building materials and there is a lack of practical restoration measures and methods for assessing building components. Different methods are available for the treatment of fire damage, depending on the extent of the damage. A distinction can be made between restoration concepts for structural components, burning odour or water damage caused by the extinguishing process. The current guideline for fire damage restoration VdS 2357 only describes systematic procedures for planning a holistic restoration concept without taking structural and technical measures into account. An Austrian guideline on fire damage restoration in timber construction also concentrates only on the content of work safety, categorisation into danger zones and fundamental work steps for fire damage restoration. Internationally, the picture is similar, with timber panel construction generally being the main focus here. Solid timber constructions, which are often built without cladding, are not currently considered.

There is hardly any information available on the remaining load-bearing capacity of timber components exposed to fire and on the protective effect of cladding. Initial characteristic values are available for the compressive and bending strength of coniferous wood after thermal exposure. Refurbishment measures have been investigated on fire-damaged glulam beams on a laboratory scale, but the integration into the overall construction and the limited accessibility in the installed state were not taken into account.

Overall, there is a lack of timber-construction-specific refurbishment concepts and reinforcement measures as well as assessment options for the material properties of fire protection cladding and structural timber components.