Wood is traditionally used in indoor as well as outdoor applications. However, wood is easily attacked by wood degrading micro-organisms in damp situations and the service life is heavily affected by construction design, choice of wood species and wood treatment. For most constructions there is an expected service life. The expectations concerning wooden constructions and what kind of wood is chosen to fulfil the expectations is not very well known. To increase the knowledge about professionals’ as well as house owners’ expectations of the service life of outdoor wooden constructions an inquiry was carried out. In addition a literature survey was made. According to the literature survey there are requirements of service life for all building materials, including wood, following the European Construction Products Directive, CPD. All materials permanently included in a construction shall have a declaration of service life. Standards and standardized products become more and more important. For the DIY builder there is very little written about durability of wood. In principle, he only learns that a well designed wooden construction will last for a long time. The inquiry showed that many private house owners expect wood to last for long time even in outdoor conditions. About 25 % thought that a service life between 10 and 20 years was sufficient while more than 40 % wanted the constructions to last for more than 40 years. The professional builders require service lives of load-bearing wooden constructions according to the CPD. For non-structural constructions the majority of the professionals found 30 years an acceptable service life.