With an increasing reliance on analysis software and an expanding range of prescriptive engineering codes and standards, it is always reassuring to observe the behaviour of structures in the real world. The first paper in the December 2017 issue of the journal provides a detailed look at the behaviour of reinforced concrete lattice-girder-slabs during manufacture, construction and in operation. Newell and Goggins (2017) demonstrate that the prediction of actual behaviour can be complex and is always subject to a degree of uncertainty therefore the application of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques can aid our understanding of structures and improve our prediction of behaviour both during construction and in operation. With the popularity of alternative methods of construction in the market increasing, and both an environmental and commercial drive to produce designs that are more efficient, obtaining data on the long-term performance of structures will be increasingly important to ensure that designs are safe, that codes and standards remain appropriate and that long-term serviceability performance can be maintained. It will be interesting to see if the rise of the so-called 'Internet Of Things' will provide a renaissance for SHM in the form of widespread data collection from in-situ buildings.Continuing with the theme of predicting structural behaviour, Bozer (2017) provides an in-depth study into the relative performance of different modelling parameters on the prediction of the non-linear seismic response of concrete structures. The paper discusses methods typically available in commercially available software to represent the non-linear response of reinforced concrete to cyclic loading, including energy dissipation and stiffness degradation, and compares the predicted performance against physical tests. The paper then examines the impact of the different modelling approaches on the performance of a sample building and demonstrates the benefits of 'fibre-models' over simplified 'plastic hinge models' to estimate behaviour, albeit at additional computational expense. Nonlinear methods that were once the reserve of sophisticated solvers are now increasingly common in standard structural engineering software and therefore an understanding of how the features and limitations of material models and modelling approaches can affect predicted structural behaviour is increasingly important. Papers exploring the sensitivity and accuracy of different numerical methods on structural design are always welcome.The strengthening of existing structures to increase capacity or improve performance can be a difficult and complex task especially when they are in use. There are many constraints that limit the application of traditional construction techniques and it is therefore an area where carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are often employed. Shankar et al. (2017) provide a study into the behaviour of concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns strengthened using strips of CFRP and explore the impact of both t...