NBS Guidance: a wealth of information for clients, architects, quantity surveyors and building services engineers

NBS Technical Author, Sarah Delany, outlines recent improvements to NBS general and clause guidance on services. Not only relevant to our NBS Engineering Services product, the additions extend into the services sections included in NBS Building.

For members of the construction team, life is a continuous battle to get the job done, with little time to ensure that the best and latest information is being used. There are some excellent publications and tool kits available to ensure that the construction process is as streamlined as possible and that the many opportunities for error are omitted. NBS guidance includes references to these aids to design to save you from having to search for yourselves. So take the time to use NBS, not just as a specification creating tool, but as a source of reference material arranged section by section to help you through from outline to full detailed design stage.

Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) publications

Over the last two updates of NBS, we have been adding information and links in the guidance of many of the work sections to the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) Design Checks publications. These cover HVAC, Electrical services and Public health, and are available in printed form and on CD. The value of these is in their inclusion of check lists that can be printed from the CDs and used on every project. The areas covered are:

• Design considerations
• Design data
• Calculations
• Systems and equipment.

The check lists are sub divided into design inputs, design outputs and key design checks. They include details of design information and a section on design watch points, information that in the heat of the moment might be missed.

BSRIA also publish a set of illustrated guides to mechanical and electrical services and to renewable technologies. These are invaluable tools for helping a client to prepare the design brief.

The recently published second edition of A Design Framework for Building Services, BG 2/2009, takes into account the changes made by RIBA to stages E to F of its Plan of Work. The guide includes pro formas for allocating design activity and drawing production, also amended definitions of standard drawing types used for building services. These pro formas are an aid to all members of the design team in discussions about how design activities can be clearly and openly allocated among the project team and how to integrate the building fabric, form and orientation with the engineering services in order to meet Building Regulations.

Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) schemes

ECAs enable businesses to write off the whole of the capital cost of their investment in three areas of technology against their taxable profits for the period during which they make the investment.

The qualifying plant and machinery are covered by three schemes:

• Energy-saving plant and machinery
• Low carbon dioxide emission cars and natural gas and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure
• Water conservation plant and machinery.

There are now references to qualifying plant and equipment in the guidance of appropriate sections throughout NBS.

Summary

NBS products provide information on and links to a huge range of information which can be used throughout the design process. Try opening the sections at the start of the design process rather than the end!

Related NBS information:

Articles:

• How to use NBS content
• The benefits of master specifications

Written November 2009

ViewAllArticles

BackToTop