Are the Eurocodes as safe as current UK standards?
The Eurocodes are regarded to be safe and reliable and have already been used in Europe on a number of landmark structures. The Agency is reviewing the Eurocodes with regard to safety. The partial safety factors in the National Annexes are determined by the UK and will ensure a level of reliability compatible with the existing UK standards. This is backed by a number of trial / parallel design studies commissioned by the Agency, which show that Eurocode design was largely comparable with design to British Standards.
