Within the present thesis a methodology for polymer specific materials selection regarding highly loaded components is presented. The basic methodology for a systematic materials selection process starts with a detailed analysis of application relevant requirements for structural parts, especially concerning operating temperatures, media influence and exposure times. In further consideration of economic and processing aspects a polymer specific requirements profile, which forms a proper basis for the selection process, is defined. Based on this application relevant requirements profile a first preselection by using polymer specific databases and their related software tools is performed. Therefore, common databases are compared referring to update cycles, data origin and completeness, for the software tools, a brief summary of their functions and additionally implemented tools is given. In conclusion, these databases allow a preselection of polymers, the final decision on a specific polymer grade requires further information on long term properties under application relevant conditions (e.g. elevated temperatures, media influence). Within a case study on “Polymer specific materials selection for large scale pump applications” a characterization methodology is presented, that allows an efficient evaluation of preselected polymer grades in terms of suitability. In particular, creep experiments at different temperatures on in water immersed specimen (based on the Stepped Isothermal Method) have been performed and subsequently, creep mastercurves for the application relevant operating time of 10 years have been determined. Referring to this, Polyamide 6.6 with 30 and 50 % glass fibre reinforcement, Polyphthalamide with 35 % glass fibre reinforcement, Polyphenylene ether with 30 % glass fibre reinforcement, Polyphenylene sulfide with 40 % glass fibre reinforcement and Polyoxymethylene with 25 % glass fibre reinforcement have been analysed and discussed regarding their applicability for pump components.