From advancing digital best practice and delivering new sustainability tools to driving industry conversations, this year at NBS has been defined by progress. Across our products, insights and events, our aim remains the same: to support a safer, more sustainable and better-connected construction industry.
1. Digital Construction Report 2025: Our flagship industry report turns 15
This year marked a major milestone for one of the sector’s most trusted research programmes: 15 years of the Digital Construction Report. Since 2010, the report, previously named ‘The BIM report’ has documented the industry’s digital evolution, becoming an essential benchmark for organisations navigating transformation.
The 2025 edition revealed an industry at a tipping point:
- AI adoption is accelerating, with more than half of professionals already trialling or using AI-enabled tools.
- Levels of digital anxiety are increasing, as teams feel pressure to keep pace with rapidly emerging technologies.
- Understanding of BIM is maturing, as most professionals now consider it a collaborative project information management process rather than simply ‘3D models with data’.
This report continues to be one of our most downloaded resources, helping the industry plan with confidence for 2026 and beyond.
Fig. 1 - The Best Practice Guide to Specification Writing
2. Helping specifiers work with confidence
Specification writing can often feel complex, time-pressured and difficult to standardise across a team. We developed the ‘Best Practice Guide to Specification Writing’ to offer a clear, easy-to-follow framework that supports specifiers in managing those challenges.
The guide focuses on helping specifiers to:
- Navigate specification workflows more easily
- Reduce ambiguity in project documentation
- Establish a shared reference point across teams and projects
It’s become a helpful companion for anyone looking to bring more clarity and confidence to their specification work.
3. CLS 2025: A flagship summit shaping the sector’s future
The Construction Leaders’ Summit once again cemented its position as one of the most influential events in the built environment calendar - a forum where the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities take centre stage.
Anneliese Day KC: Industry Must Lead the Way
Anneliese Day KC, leading barrister and co-author of the Morrell–Day Review of the Construction Product Testing Regime, delivered a powerful keynote rooted in almost 30 years of major construction case work.
Reflecting on the gap between regulatory review and government action, she urged the sector to shape its own future:
“As we stand here today, we still do not have the government's proposed plan for tackling the issues our report raises.”
Her message to industry was clear:
“The industry must keep improving voluntary standards and codes of practice… The government is never going to give you the answer. They don’t know.”
Fig. 3 - Chris Hines MBE presenting at the Construction Leaders' Summit
Chris Hines MBE: A wake-up call on climate resilience
Environmental campaigner Chris Hines MBE offered a stark, compelling assessment of global environmental risk and the shifting dynamics of sustainability:
“We’re on a cliff edge. The cliff edge is actually crumbling and the sea level’s rising... Depending on how many slaps around the face it takes humanity to wake up will dictate how many of us come out the other end.”
His candid message brought a renewed sense of focus to what the industry must prioritise next.
A summit that set the direction for 2026
Across all sessions, CLS 2025 reinforced several themes:
- Higher expectations around product assurance and testing
- Rapid growth of AI-driven digital workflows
- A shift from sustainability ambition to resilience-focused action
- Increased collaboration between specifiers, manufacturers, and clients
CLS once again stood out as a moment where the industry comes together to learn, debate and move forward collectively.
Watch the presentations now:
Fig. 4 - Marketing Masterclasses for manufacturers
4. Manufacturer marketing masterclasses: Practical growth strategies for the year ahead
Our Manufacturer Marketing Masterclass series was shaped by insight gathered through NBS research with construction manufacturers, which revealed a clear need for better support in understanding the specification journey and improving influence. These findings will be published in the Construction Sales and Marketing Report, launching in early 2026. In response, we developed a programme of practical, expert-led sessions designed to give marketing teams clear, actionable guidance.
This year’s programme focused on four core areas:
- Understanding the specifier journey – exploring how designers search, evaluate and select products, and what influences decisions at each stage.
- Building stronger digital visibility – practical guidance on creating product information, content and experiences that resonate with specifiers and support early engagement.
- Aligning teams for specification success – insights into how marketing, sales and technical roles can work together to strengthen visibility and reduce friction in the customer experience.
- Turning insight into action – practical steps manufacturers can implement quickly, supported by real examples from across the industry.
Each session included a downloadable toolkit, offering templates, recommended tools and hands-on resources, giving marketers a structured way to apply what they learned straight away.
5. Product and platform enhancements for 2025
Throughout 2025, we’ve continued to invest across NBS Chorus and NBS Source, delivering a steady stream of updates designed to improve clarity, control and collaboration in everyday workflows. Here’s just a snapshot of some of the developments introduced this year.
For Specifiers
Mentions
@Mention colleagues directly within specification notes to accelerate communication and keep tasks on track.
Export sustainability report
Download a full sustainability report from NBS Chorus, including embodied carbon metrics and EPD certificates for all products in your specification.
Request manufacturer support
Contact manufacturers directly from NBS Chorus when adding products from NBS Source.
Fig. 5 - Exporting sustainability reports from NBS Chorus
For Manufacturers
New product classifications
66 new product classifications make it easier for specifiers to find the right products — and help manufacturers improve discoverability.
Normalised sustainability units
CO₂ and embodied-carbon metrics are now presented using normalised units, making product comparison clearer and more consistent.
PIM Import
Import product data from your PIM directly into the Partner Platform, improving consistency and reducing manual administration.
Fig. 6 - Normalised CO2 units and industry averages in NBS Source
These highlights sit alongside many other enhancements delivered throughout the year, reflecting our ongoing focus on evolving the platforms.
Already a customer? Your account manager can walk you through the latest updates and how they apply to your work.
New to NBS? Book a demo to see how our tools and content support better specification and product visibility.
Looking Ahead: Building Momentum for 2026
This year has been a significant one for NBS, marked by meaningful progress across our products, insights and industry engagement - all focused on delivering greater value for the specifiers and manufacturers we support.
The perspectives shared by specifiers, manufacturers and partners help enrich our view of the challenges and opportunities across the sector - informing where we direct our expertise, from product development to the extensive programme of free webinars, events, reports, articles and in-product guidance we publish each year to support better decisions and move the industry forward together.
As we move into 2026, we remain focused on developing tools and insights that support better decisions, clearer specifications and smoother collaboration across the construction process. We’re excited about enhancements already in progress to support more sustainable construction and the opportunities ahead to continue strengthening the value NBS provides.
Thank you to everyone who has shared their perspective with us this year. We look forward to supporting your work in 2026.
