Value of Information Applied to the Post-fire Assessment of Concrete Slabs

Post-fire assessment of concrete structures currently relies heavily on expert judgement. Thus, whether or not tests are performed as part of the post-fire assessment and which test method is chosen depends mainly on the subjective preferences of the assessing engineer. In this contribution a rational decision-making framework based on the Value of Information concept is demonstrated using a simplified example application of a fire exposed concrete slab in a residential building. The example application highlights that gathering data on the post-fire status of the concrete slab is likely to be cost-effective also when the assessor is very confident about the status of the structural element post-fire. This demonstration thus suggests that the current reliance on expert judgement is not reasonable.