NBS Building

Up-to-date information

When you use NBS Building, the software will let you know if you are using the most up-to-date information. If updated material is available, it will prompt you to download it.

Pre-written clauses

NBS Building contains pre-written technical specification clauses and preliminaries for selection and editing to produce project specifications. Clauses are authored by our team of in-house architects and surveyors to be concise and robust and are arranged in accordance with the Common Arrangement of Work Sections.

As the clauses are pre-written, very little typing is involved. Some clauses require additional information which you can either type in or complete with the use of drop-down lists of suggested solutions. Clauses are provided for both prescriptive and performance specification.

Guidance

General guidance with information on materials and design, including workmanship advice and tips on how to avoid pitfalls is provided for each work section. Extensive technical guidance is also provided to help you complete individual clauses.

Guidance provides access to technical information resources including websites and The Construction Information Service*.

Building product specification

NBS Building contains building product information to help create accurate and detailed building specifications. Manufacturer product information has been written specifically for NBS clauses and is checked for currency at each update.

Office standards

If you regularly work on similar projects, there is a facility to create, manage and update your own office standard specifications.

Printing and issuing

Flexible formatting options mean that you can present your documents using your corporate style. They can then be printed or exported to PDF.

Collaboration across the design team

NBS Building now includes the NBS Tools feature. One of the key benefits of NBS Tools is the ability to annotate your CAD models, schedules and bills of quantities using clause references from NBS specifications or construction references from NBS schedules of work.

NBS Tools is also available as a free download for non NBS subscribers to allow collaboration between colleagues on a project team regardless of who has an NBS licence.

Intuitive user interface

NBS Building has been designed to be intuitive and simple to use. Specifications and NBS Libraries are organised on the left-hand side of the screen. The centre of the screen is used for editing work sections. The right-hand side of the screen displays Guidance, NBS Plus, Help, and links to other information resources.

* The Construction Information Service is a searchable database of full text documents from publishers such as BRE and BSI. It is available as an online subscription service from IHS, telephone 01344 404434, email marketing@ihsti.com or visit www.ihsti.com.

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NBS Building is a subscription service. As part of the subscription you will receive updates on CD-ROM three times a year. Additional updates can be downloaded from the NBS website when available.

NBS Building is offered in three levels of service:

Full Service:

1. Includes Standard, Intermediate and Minor Works libraries
2. For projects of any size. The Standard work sections include performance based clauses which are suitable for Design and Build contracts as well as traditional procurement. They are accompanied by extensive guidance notes.

Abridged Service:

1. Includes Intermediate and Minor Works libraries
2. For small or medium-sized projects. Scope is comprehensive but sections have been edited to suit the scale of work envisaged. There are few performance based clauses and guidance is less extensive.

Minor Works Service:

1. Includes Minor Works library only
2. For small scale works where brevity is important. There are fewer sections, and both clauses and guidance have been edited for small projects.

Download a brochure

For more information on how to subscribe, including pricing, download a PDF brochure now.

Also available: NBS Binders and Discs

NBS Building is also available in three levels of service as the NBS Building Binders and Discs service.

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NBS Libraries

Different NBS Building libraries provide preliminaries, work sections and guidance suited to certain types of work. The libraries are: Standard, Intermediate, and Minor Works, and are offered in the following combinations:

NBS Building Full Service: Standard, Intermediate and Minor Works

For projects of any size. The Standard work sections include performance based clauses, which are suitable for design and build contracts as well as traditional procurement. They are also accompanied by extensive guidance notes.

NBS Building Abridged Service: Intermediate and Minor Works

For more simple, medium sized projects. Scope is comprehensive but sections have been edited to suit the scale of work envisaged, and guidance is less extensive.

NBS Building Minor Works Service: Minor Works

For small scale works where brevity is important. There are fewer sections, which are edited for small jobs.

Scope and contents of NBS Building

The scope and contents of each NBS library follows. The content of each individual work section will vary from one library to another, depending on the projects for which the libraries are designed. The table below shows the contract groups included within the preliminaries of each service.

Current NBS Building scope and contents at July 2010
(NBS Update 2010-2)

S = Standard, I = Intermediate, M = Minor Works

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NBS Software Licensing

NBS software can be licensed for use on standalone PCs, or for use on a network. When running on a standalone PC the software will be licence locked for use only on that machine.

For network installations, the software will be licence locked to the server PC. Other PCs on the network may access the licence on the server for concurrent use, up to the number of licences subscribed to.

System requirements

NBS software requires the following components in order to run:

1. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) or higher (download here) (Included with Windows XP/Vista/7)
2. Microsoft .NET framework 2.0 (download here) (Included with Windows Vista/Windows 7)

All products require a CD-ROM drive if installing the software from CD.

In addition the software will run on the following platforms:

1. Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
2. Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) (SP2)
3. Windows XP Professional (SP3)
4. Windows XP Home (SP3)
5. Windows XP Pro x64 (SP2)
6. Windows 2003 Server and above (for Server PCs).

Full instructions for installation are contained in the Getting Started Guide and help files provided in the software. Our software support team also provide assistance, and you can contact them on 0845 456 9594 (+44 191 232 9594 from outside the UK) and at support@theNBS.com.

Please note that the speed of running any software application depends upon several factors. The following specification is an approximate guide only.

Recommended minimum requirements for all NBS software:

1. Processor: Pentium III 1.0GHz
2. Memory: 256 MB (For Windows XP) 512Mb (For Windows Vista/7)
3. Free disk space: 1Gb
4. Screen resolution: 1024 x 768 in 32 bit colour.
    

Apple Macintosh

NBS have tested the Specification Family portfolio software (NBS Building, NBS Landscape, NBS Engineering Services), NBS Contract Administrator and NBS Scheduler successfully for standalone and network installations with Apple Boot Camp. The specification of the machine tested on is as follows:

1. iMac 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
2. 17-inch widescreen LCD with 1440x900 resolution
3. 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo with 2MB shared L2 cache
4. 2.0Gb 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
5. 160GB Serial ATA hard drive
6. Slot-load 8x double-layer SuperDrive
7. ATI Radeon X1600 graphics with 128MB GDDR3 memory
8. Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0

Please Note: In order to run NBS software using Apple Boot Camp users will require a bona fide full version of Microsoft Windows: XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate with Service Pack 2, Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate (no upgrade or multi-disc versions).

Although the software has been successfully tested on this platform we cannot guarantee that the software will react the same with another specification Mac. Therefore, we cannot guarantee performance of our software when using Windows on a Mac. Support will be limited for any customers using our software on Mac as we will not be able to determine that the encountered problems are due to our software or the system used.

NBS Perspective is not supported running with Apple Boot Camp.

Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT4, Windows 2000 and Windows XP Service Pack 2

Microsoft has retired support for:

1. Windows 95
2. Windows 98
3. Windows 98SE
4. Windows ME
5. Windows NT4
6. Windows 2000
7. Windows XP Service Pack 2

Microsoft state that these operating systems are outdated and can expose customers to security risks. NBS do not support these operating systems and recommend that customers who are still running the above upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows 7, as soon as possible.

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