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
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 ...
Construction Products
Dulux Trade launches new solution for high-humidity spaces
Because of how they are used, kitchens and bathrooms experience more moisture, more contact, and more ongoing maintenance. Standard emulsions are not designed for this level of use. Over time, ...
A century of building specification works
Advice on specifying has a long history, beginning perhaps with 'On Architecture' by the Roman architect Vitruvius (24 BC). However, it has usually only been covered incidentally in works on other ...
Design and SpecificationSpecification
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
Specification is an essential part of the design process. Unfortunately, for most engineers, it is the least enjoyed task. This often results in specifications of inferior quality. If a specification ...
Design and SpecificationSpecification
Yes! We have no specifications
Like Nero's Domus Aurea, little remains of Ian McGlinn's Maison d'Or – though a legal (rather than archaeological) legacy lives on. John Gelder looks at what this legacy tells us about specification.
Design and SpecificationSpecification
Specifying colour
The visible electromagnetic spectrum ranges between about 400 nm (violet) and 700 nm (red). In building, colours are rarely pure spectral colours (like the yellow from low pressure sodium vapour ...