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
digital-transformation
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.
digital-transformation
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.
Uniclass 2015 - January 2021 update
This is the latest in our quarterly updating programme for Uniclass 2015. It includes some major updates to eleven tables.
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.
Ours is a history of inefficiency and fragmentation In traditional design-build and design-build-bid construction, various entities come together in linear stages to work on a project. They work ...
Digital Transformation
12 Days of Digital Construction
1. Digital transformation has accelerated
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
Uniclass 2015 - October 2020 update
We aim to minimize changes to existing codes and classifications, but we always take feedback from users into account. Any changes are the result of this input, combined with our own ongoing review.
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
The Construction Leaders' Summit: six key takeaways
1. Stop making excuses, start making changes All of us have had to adapt to new ways of working following the COVID-19 pandemic. We've seen that if a significant driver like the pandemic comes along, ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
A review of the Draft Building Safety Bill, and what it will mean for construction product manufacturers
So what is the draft bill? To directly quote the Rt Hon. Robert Jenrick MP from the Bill’s introduction: ‘The Bill will introduce a new era of accountability, making it clear where the responsibility ...
Design and SpecificationDigital Transformation
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The adoption of Uniclass 2015 in Australia
Introduction from NBS Since the launch of Uniclass 2015, we at NBS have been delighted with its adoption by industry. We have updated the system quarterly now for the last five years, and have ...
Design and SpecificationDigital Transformation
Uniclass 2015 - July 2020 update
This is the latest in our quarterly updating programme for Uniclass 2015. It includes updates to eight tables.
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
10 things we’ve learnt from the 2020 BIM Survey
1. BIM really is a process, not a technology And more people describe their approach to BIM as following the BS/PAS 1192 series (37%) or ISO 19650 series (26%), than say it’s creating 3D models. In ...
Digital TransformationNBS National BIM Report
Pricing specifications and drawings for small works
1. The contract documents When working on basic construction projects, where the work is of a simple nature, then typically this work will be undertaken using a ‘small works’ standard form ...
Design and SpecificationDigital Transformation
NBS for small practices
1. The importance of specification Many smaller practices work on less complex construction projects. While there is no universal definition of what a ‘small works’ project is, it is generally ...
Design and SpecificationDigital Transformation
RIBA Plan of Work 2020 and specification
The specification drives the look and feel of a project, and heavily influences its cost plan. New design review tools such as virtual reality (VR) place even more importance on illustrating the ...
