Accidental actions can be subdivided into accidental actions with a natural cause and accidental actions due to human activities. This document applies to reliability based and risk informed decision making for the design and assessment of structures subject to accidental actions due to human activities. However, fires and human-made earthquakes are not included.

The information presented in this document is intended for buildings and civil engineering works, regardless of the nature of their application and the use or combination of materials. The application of this document can require additional elements or elaboration in special cases.

This document is intended to serve as a basis for those committees that are responsible for the task of preparing International Standards, national standards or codes of practice in accordance with given objectives and context in a particular country. Where relevant, it can also be applied directly to specific cases.

This document describes how the principles of risk and reliability can be utilized to support decisions related to the design and assessment of structures subject to accidental actions and systems involving structures during all the phases of their service life. For the general principles of risk informed design and assessment, it is intended that ISO 2394 be considered.

The application of this document necessitates knowledge beyond that which it contains. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that this knowledge is available and applied.