Structural Safety and Failure Case Studies in Germany

The fundamental rationale to ensure structural safety and to prevent society from undue harm in Germany, i.e., the independent design review scheme and the independent execution supervision system, will be explained. Special emphasis is laid on the methods chosen for the review and the supervision, as well as on the qualification needed for the design review engineer, who acts as a trustee of the public administration. The development of the design review and the execution supervision regime, and of the underlying set of technical rules and regulations will be addressed by discussing actual and historic case studies. The interface-problems, when different parties are involved, are highlighted and the necessity, to establish good and reliable coordination mechanism is carved out. Because of the increasing fragmentation of the design process, in combination with the use of complex software tools and inevitable pressure of time, often the comprehensive design review process is the last line of defence to avoid incidents due to minor lapses or serious misjudgements.