Numerous test methods to determine the durability of timber and timber products have been described in relevant literature. However, only some of these methods have been standardized and thus only very few are regularly used for resistance tests in the field. Since results from extensive comparative field studies have shown differences in moisture performance between different test methods, the aim of this study was to conduct moisture content (MC) recordings on a wider range of above ground durability test methods. In total 27 different test methods containing long term moisture recordings were brought out on a test site in Hannover, Germany, in April 2012. The test set up covers established tests (e.g. L-Joint test, decking test, ground proximity test) as well as some new alternative test methods. In this paper the test set up as well as preliminary results of the comparative studies on moisture performance of different materials are presented. To also consider the aspect that a systematic assessment is needed to identify suitable above ground test methods they were evaluated with respect to different criteria (e.g. material costs, time and effort, decay development). Preliminary results of the continuous MC measurements pointed on differences in moisture load between the test methods representing very different exposure conditions in practice. Furthermore different acceleration measures influenced the moisture performance.

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