Wood preservation is a way to increase the biological durability of wood by the addition of chemical components with a biocidal effect. The effect of such treatment is clearly concentration dependent. At distinct levels of fungicide concentration fungi are killed or inhibited in their enzymatic functioning to provide nutrients. The toxic limits allow decision-makers to provide treating prescriptions based on a teared approach of European standards. Non-biocidal treatments may act totally different. Mechanisms as moisture exclusion or hydrophobation and modification of wood components inhibit, retard or stop the colonisation by fungi. Though these treatments are only effective from certain levels on or when a certain degree of substrate modification is reached, it is hardly possible to establish a dose response curve. Since these treatments do not fit into the standard methodology for evaluation of traditional wood preservation either new test methods or at least new ways of judgement and interpretation of results are required.

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