Fire resistance of reinforced concrete structures: the basic principles of the calculation according to the norms of the Russian Federation and the European Union

Each year there is a big amount of fires in buildings and structures all around the world including the Russian Federation. The buildings and structures must correspond to modern structural safety requirements which include not only the calculation of load-bearing structures for strength and maintenance but also the calculation of the fire resistance. In this paper is given a comparative analysis of Russian and European standards for the design of reinforced concrete structures under fire exposure. Russian and European standards have differences in terms of determining the fire resistance of reinforced concrete structures. The main reason is the difference of the basic principles and design methods in the Russian Federation and the EU, the difference between the raw material base of countries, physical and geographical conditions. The main difference between standarts is term «fire safety» in Russian standarts. Design calculation on fire safety ensures their operation capacity after a fire exposure at a given fire endurance without structural reinforcement.