The main objective of the National Project PERFDUB is to define a methodology for justifying durability of concrete (and concrete structures) with a performance-based approach, including the “absolute” method and the “comparative” method. It aims to aggregate the knowledge and feedback, to fill gaps, in a framework involving all stakeholders so that the performance-based approach becomes operational and everyday, which does is still the case today.

For twenty years, significant international researches proposed predictive models associated with primary mechanisms conditioning the durability of concrete structures. Despite the progress made, these models are still not integrated into a standardized approach. Yet it is possible to develop a rational quantitative approach to potential service life of structures (in project or just built) in connection with the physical properties of concrete measurable by the tests on which the performance-based approach relies.

This methodology is intended for works for which a specific level of quality assurance is provided. The field of research concerns the new structures but is also interested in old structures in order to link pathologies where ageing is observed to the type of concrete and its sustainability features.