Knowledge

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

Sustainable Futures UK Report 2026

Explore the current state of sustainability in the UK construction industry based on the results from a comprehensive survey conducted by NBS.

Must Reads

  • Construction Products

    Siderise: Helping to bridge the gap between Gateway 2 approval and on-site fire protection

    While the new building safety regime hasn’t fundamentally changed what requirements higher-risk buildings (HRBs) must meet to comply with the Building Regulations, it has significantly increased the ...

  • RIBA CPD

    RIBA CPD for Architects: Understanding Flooring Specification and Detailing

    For architects and specifiers, flooring details can have a significant impact on the safety, accessibility, durability and overall performance of a building. Yet the technical considerations ...

  • Sponsored

    Designing sustainability into construction – proof over promises in sustainable construction

    With tightening regulations and growing client demand, the construction industry is under increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable progress against carbon reduction targets. For specifiers, that ...

BREEAM and the Plan of Work

Sustainable development is becoming an everyday part of life for property developers, designers and contractors, as many people both inside and outside the construction industry are demanding that ...

SustainabilityRIBA Plan of Work
NBS-LCA

Reduce embodied carbon from the start

Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.

UK Government timber procurement policy and BREEAM

Nick Moss, of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement , discusses the importance of the UK government timber procurement policy and its relevance to BREEAM.

SustainabilityTimber

Condensing boilers and domestic heating controls

Heating controls with condensing boilers are almost mandatory for home installation in the UK. In this article, industry specialists BSRIA tell us more.

Construction ProductsHeating

Ventilation of the loft space

In this extract from the Loft Conversion Project Guide, by the Construction Products Association, we look at good practice techniques and information on the need to provide ventilation to the ...

Construction ProductsVentilation

Healthy, efficient and sustainable buildings

In this exclusive extract from The Whole Building Handbook: How to Design Healthy, Efficient and Sustainable Buildings by Varis Bokalders and Maria Block, we look at the increasingly pressing need to ...

SustainabilityClimate change

Rainscreen cladding

In this exclusive extract from NBS Shortcuts , written by noted industry figure Austin Williams, we introduce rainscreen cladding and its use in the UK.

Design and SpecificationBook extract

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Cover pricing

In September 2009, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) handed out fines totalling almost £130 million to a number of construction companies in the UK. The OFT found that these firms had engaged in ...

Contracts and LawTendering

The Construction Act review

It is generally accepted that Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 has brought about significant change to practices in the construction industry, since it came into ...

Government policyContracts and Law

Slip resistance - an update

The May 2009 issue of the NBS Journal included an article that reviewed the competing TRL pendulum, German ramp and BCRA Tortus test methods for determining the slip resistance of floor coverings. It ...

Health and Safety

JCT Revision 2 Contracts

Preliminaries for Revision 2 to the JCT Standard, Intermediate, Minor Works, and Design and Build Contracts will be available with NBS Update 2009-3 and also on the NBS website. NBS Technical Author, ...

Contracts and Law

Generator selection

NBS Engineering Services section V12 - Generator systems – has been extensively revised in Update 2009-3. We look at some of the issues to consider when specifying generator systems.

Design and SpecificationConstruction Products

Specifying multi-layer reflective foil insulation systems

Multi-layer insulation blankets have recently been added to NBS section P10. NBS Technical Author, Charles Stirling, strips back the layers to reveal his findings on their uses and efficiency.

Construction Products