Corrosion of the reinforcing steel is the primary cause of premature deterioration of reinforced concrete structures, and affects their functionality and safety. The non-corroding properties of GFRPs, their high tensile strength, and their high stiffness to weight ratio made them very attractive substitute to conventional reinforcing steel. The widespread acceptance of the usage of GFRP bars in concrete reinforcement applications has been delayed due to their relatively high initial costs, low elastic moduli and lack of design knowledge. There are also concerns about the behavior of GFRP reinforcement in fire conditions, and whether GFRP reinforced elements can fulfil requirements in terms of fire reaction and fire resistance performance.

Over the last 30 years, design codes have been developed to allow engineers to replace steel with GFRP reinforcement to benefit from its properties, and provide more economic solutions in harsh environments where steel corrosion repairs represent an economic challenge.

In addition, research studies have been investigating various aspects of the fire behavior of GFRP reinforced concrete elements. This paper provides an overview of the most recent studies that investigated the fire behavior of GFRP reinforced elements, and discusses the recent developments in the standards and codes regarding the design of concrete elements using GFRP reinforcement.