A wide range of interesting articles that help you make informed decisions and deliver the best projects for your clients authored by our team of NBS subject specialists and construction industry contributors.
Sustainability
NBS Guide: Embodied Carbon Calculations
Learn how to align your carbon assessments with BIM workflows. This guide to Embodied Carbon Calculations, developed by NBS and Circular Ecology, sets out a practical, standardised approach to calculating the embodied carbon of building materials and products, and how to apply this data to BIM objects.
Must Reads
The hidden cost of compliance: why architects are demanding a new era of product transparency
Few pieces of legislation have reshaped the UK construction industry as significantly as the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA). Introduced to improve accountability, traceability and safety standards ...
Design and Specification
Brick slip cladding systems – the need for robust specification
This article from the NBS technical team outlines specification for brick slip technology, including history, technology, design, safety and testing.
When product data creates risk, AluK delivers the clarity and support architects need
The need to build more homes, more quickly, has not changed. If anything, the pressure has intensified. However, the conversation around Modern Methods of Construction has evolved.
The EU Construction Products Regulations 2024 and Digital Product Passports
Background This article is about the rules concerning placing construction products on the market in the United Kingdom. It has been written in light of the EU Construction Product Regulations 2024 ...
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
Five essential tips for writing effective specifications
A well-written and robust specification is vital to the success of construction projects. It is the document that details the product quality, the execution requirements, and the tasks and ...
Design and SpecificationUniclass
NBS and sustainability
Design for construction is undergoing rapid change, which manufacturers need to be aware of. Catch up on recent innovations from the ‘Rethinking Design and Construction’ presentation by Jaimie ...
Sustainability
Supporting specifiers adapting to the new building safety regime
Fundamentally, it starts with the client. The client must appoint a competent principal designer (under Building Regulations) who will then plan, manage and monitor the design work so that, when ...
Design and SpecificationBuilding Safety Act
Setting things up for success by starting the specification early
Note: this article focuses on the Uniclass classification structure in its examples; however, a CAWS version of the early-stage library is also available. The broad principles of this article apply ...
Design and SpecificationDigital Transformation
A look back at the NBS Construction Leaders’ Summit 2023
With over 250 architects, engineers, contractors and manufacturers joining us in person, the 2023 summit was our largest ‘in-person’ event since before COVID-19. NBS CEO Russell Haworth kicked off ...
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
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The NBS BIM Library
Standardized BIM objects The NBS BIM Library is a collection of thousands of generic and manufacturer BIM objects authored and certified by our experts to our trusted NBS BIM Object Standard. Our ...
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
NBS Source and Uniclass
This article looks at the benefits of using the Uniclass classification structure when structuring manufacturer product information. It provides an insight into how NBS does this in the NBS Source ...
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
Uniclass and NBS Chorus
The specification libraries in NBS Chorus are structured either by Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS) or Uniclass. Understandably, one of the most common questions that we receive at NBS is ...
Design and SpecificationUniclass
Summary schedules in NBS Chorus
Introduction The writing of a specification is a process where information is developed from the concept design stage through to tender, and potentially through to a record of what is built at ...
Design and SpecificationProduct update
What is BIM? | Building Information Modelling
What is BIM? BIM is a process for creating and managing information on a construction project throughout its whole life cycle. As part of this process, a coordinated digital description of every ...
Digital TransformationVideo
BIM dimensions – 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D BIM explained
What is BIM? BIM is a process for creating and managing information on a construction project, throughout the project’s life cycle. As part of this process, a coordinated digital description of every ...