Thisdocumentprovidesaguideforengineerstoassessthelong-termperformanceofpolymericmaterialsusedincivilworks.Inthefirstpartofthepaper,thevariousdegradationmechanismslikelytobeobservedforpolymericmaterialsaredescribedandclassified.Thesecondpartofthepaperdiscusseselaborationoftestingprotocolsandrelationsbetweentestresultsandactualservicelifeofamaterial.Variousfactorsinfluencingthisrelationarediscussed.Theseincludetherelationsbetweentestingconditionsandactualserviceconditions,thelevelofaccelerationwhichcanbeaccepted–ornot–consideringthetypeofdegradationtobemodeledaswellasadiscussiononthemethodscurrentlyavailabletopredictaservicelifebasingonacceleratedtestresults.Generalrulesarefinallyprovidedtoassesstheapplicabilityofaproductforagivenapplication |