Many of the L-joint trials conducted at BRE were assessed during the early stages to establish the rate of colonisation by fungi, principally basidiomycetes. At that time, a system of assessment incorporating colonisation studies was proposed for inclusion within the European Standard EN 330 but was rejected for the final version of the standard. The long-term trials associated with the colonisation studies have now reached a stage where direct comparisons can be made between the incidence of colonisation by basidiomycetes and the rate of progress of visible decay. The procedures used were not totally reliable in isolating all decay fungi from L-joints. The correlation between the time decay fungi were first isolated from preservative treated L-joints and the onset of visible decay was poor but there was much better correlation between the total number of L-joints which yielded isolates of decay fungi during the first five years of exposure and the onset of visible decay. It is suggested that isolations made from a greater number of replicates, perhaps after 5 years of exposure, could be used to predict minimum performance life.

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