Fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) belong to the group of fiber-composite materials. They consist of reinforcing fiber lying in a matrix material. The oldest known fiber-composite material is wood, consisting of cellular fibers and a lignin matrix. Such a combination results in a new material that typically has different properties than single components.

While especially the aerospace business managed to make use of the advantages of fiber reinforced plastics, they are traditionally not in the minds of construction engineers and architects.

Concerns about the durability, robustness and fire resistance are critical. Also repair issues and the behavior of the material in extreme environments, e.g. the sensitivity of plastics exposed to UV radiation, have to be solved before application of FRP in extreme environments.