Subterranean termites are a problem of Mediterranean countries since their climatology favours their development. In Spain, termite attack is very important in cultural heritage and even in new construction, as they can cause serious damage to structural elements (pillars, beams, decks, etc.), carpentry (doors, windows, etc.) and wooden goods (furniture, paintings, libraries, etc.), causing not only economic losses resulting from the rehabilitation, but also losses in Spanish Cultural Heritage and legacy. Currently there are many types of treatments against the attack of subterranean termites, however in Spain, there wasn’t a unique standardized document compiling all the information and techniques available, as well as the existing measures in other countries. The Spanish Normalization Group, Subcommittee 4 “Wood Protection” belonging to the Technical Committee on Standardization (CTN) 56 "Timber and Cork" in Spain, has established a group of termite experts who have developed a “Technical Intervention Protocol to Systematize the control of subterranean termites in urban areas”, both in buildings and in their environments, by specifying basic procedural guidelines. On the other hand, current legislation on urban planning proposes the replacement of the Technical Inspection of Buildings (ITE), by the Building Evaluation Report (IEE), incorporating the presence of wood decay organisms as one of the parameters to be measured, but does not describe in any part of the text how to carry out such evaluation. This paper shows the different parts of the protocol: diagnostic, treatment and maintenance, reflected in the Spanish Standard UNE 56418 explaining how each is carried out and the corresponding professional in charge in the intervention.

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