Are you BIM ready? What your business needs to do before 2016

The 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by architect Sou Fujimoto, is a metallic mesh of 27,000 bits of steel joined together to give the impression of a light, cloud-like structure. In this programme we talk to the AECOM engineers that worked alongside Fujimoto to help realise his design. We learn why the architect’s original designs had to be rapidly rationalised and how an exceedingly tight schedule ultimately dictated the final design and how it was built.

The government's Strategy for Sustainable Construction (published in June 2008) aims to reduce waste from construction, demolition and excavation (“CD & E” waste) to 50% of 2008 figures by 2012. WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme, has developed a Construction Waste Commitment to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to increase the amount of recycled content used in construction.

Partnering, both on single and multiple projects, has delivered exceptional results, but it requires planning and depends on changes in behaviour that many people find challenging.

We investigate the extent to which good faith obligations might be implied into contracts and whether it's time to reassess traditional thinking on the matter.

While closer collaborative working brings a range of benefits, our research suggests there's still much more to be done to spur widespread adoption of such methods.

A summary of findings from the NBS National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2013 and a free download of the full report.

A look at the potential fire risks that might be associated with solar electric and photovoltaic systems.

As well as looking at the properties of rammed earth, or pise, this programme asks whether concrete should be added as a stabiliser, the issue of cost, and along the way we look at some high-profile failures and successes.

To illustrate recent changes in the law we look at two recent high-profile cases in which entire buildings were concealed in an attempt to evade planning control (one behind a wall of straw, the other within a barn).

Huw Evans explores the manin changes in the 2013 edition of Approved Document M.

Simon Lewis looks at how lessons can be learnt on a range of BIM projects.

Two students on a year placement at NBS reflect on their practical experiences at a local architectural practice.