With the increasing number of complex and tall timber buildings with a significant share of unprotected timber surfaces, questions arise about the contribution of the combustible structural elements to the fire development (fire dynamics) as well as on the robustness of these buildings. In recent building projects, measures for robustness have been implemented on ad-hoc basis in agreement between the designer and the authorities. This paper discusses some more general approaches to achieve structural robustness with regard to fire design and evaluates these approaches to give guidance for timber structures.