This paper reviews the official documentation (standards, guidelines and procedures) available for the assessment of heritage timber structures. The subsequent discussion does not catalogue all relevant technical literature. Instead, it intends to convey the state of background knowledge, recommendations and code rules using some illustrative examples. A specific focus is given to visual inspection as a fundamental first step for all different scopes and levels of assessment. The objectives of this review are to: 1) highlight the gaps and limitations in the currently available tools as well as the need for standardization; 2) contribute to the definition of an ontological approach, Highlights • A review of the methodological, normative and operational tools for the assessment of heritage timber structures. • A critical discussion of the gaps and limitations of current assessment tools. • An introduction to a proposed inspection form for heritage timber roofs.

SUMMARYThe evaluation of the seismic damageability of existing buildings is a primary element in the planning for mitigation of earthquake effects. To this purpose, the use of the vulnerability index has been recently proposed and adopted in various surveys in Italy. The index results from grading the status of various structural and non-structural components exposed to damage in a seismic event. The effectiveness of the vulnerability index as a measure of the health status of buildings is discussed on the basis of regional surveys of vulnerability index versus reported damage, carried out in various Italian areas such as Friuli and the city of Gubbio. Also, investigation of the items most effective in describing damageability among those contributing to the index is performed, in view of formulating a reduced survey procedure. A damage versus vulnerability index database collected in these surveys is presented as well. Finally, a vulnerability index based procedure to evaluate the expected damage in a territory is proposed.

No abstract