Integrating a golden thread of information into construction specifications is vital for meeting Building Safety Act 2022 requirements, making taking the time and effort to create robust, thorough and detailed specifications more critical than ever: providing a structured and detailed framework for conveying essential information about materials, methods, standards and quality requirements and ensuring clarity, compliance, accountability, and consistency throughout the construction project.
At its core, specification ensures the efficient and straightforward exchange of information between the client, designer and contractor. Through specification, you use words to describe things that can’t be visualized or explained via a drawing or model:
We use three primary types of specifications in construction.
Prescriptive specifications provide details regarding what materials to use and how they should be installed, including:
Performance specifications cover a project’s operational requirements and how a product should behave once installed. Performance specs generally entail significant testing to ensure the project is within stipulated operational parameters.
Proprietary specifications are used when a specifier wants to include a specific product range or type. Examples of projects that might require proprietary specifications include conservation and renovation projects with a need to match or integrate with existing materials and equipment.
Taking time to develop a robust specification ensures a better understanding of a project’s requirements. Having clear information upfront means the process is more efficient and effective. That, in turn, translates to time, effort and cost savings.
The golden thread (of information) is a shorthand term used to describe digitally held building data that is accurate, up-to-date and accessible to everyone concerned. It is the method by which the Building Safety Act 2022 places legal responsibility upon duty holders to ensure and enforce transparency and accountability regarding the safety of the buildings we use.
Since its introduction in 2020 by The Building Regulations Advisory Committee’s Golden Thread Report and its subsequent inclusion in The Building Safety Act 2022, the golden thread of information in construction has been accepted as our industry’s way forward, capturing the digital fingerprints of the people involved, recording decisions made and creating transparency through a clear accountability trail.
While the Building Safety Act serves to enforce the golden thread, it is through robust specification that we can provide a practical, valuable and lasting way to ensure compliance.
Through specification, we create a durable source of truth, weaving a golden thread of information through our construction projects and providing information that is accurate, understandable, consistent, accessible and valuable over time.
The short answer is as early in the project lifecycle as possible. A project specification is a living document, and by creating it early on, you are allowing the specification to evolve and develop through the project timeline, thus providing vital information from project start through handover and asset management.
As construction embraces the digital age, project data requirements become more complex. Having a core, unified basis of information is tantamount to project success. Specifications are crucial in creating that basis, clearly representing the built asset and providing vital information to owners, facilities managers and maintenance teams to optimize use, reuse and end-of-life activities.
In the article Using NBS to specify sustainable outcomes on projects, NBS explores how the Plan of Work and NBS Chorus can be used to tailor a project to meet sustainability expectations across the project timeline. Due to its flexible, cloud-based functionality, you can access your specifications through Chorus across locations and organizations. There is no software to install and no fuss – just access to your specs anywhere, anytime, and on any device. All that is required is a modern web browser and an internet connection.
Chorus allows you to specify by performance or prescriptively with generic or proprietary references. Clauses are editable and supported by technical guidance. It's available with different access levels, providing a solution for most budgets, from NBS Chorus Small Works for smaller practices to Chorus Pro Solution for those working on more complex projects. For more information, check out the hyperlinks or drop one of our team a note at info@thenbs.com.
NBS Source is a single source for product information that seamlessly integrates into a project's workflow and provides an additional level of enhanced product data in a consistent, structured format. It hosts thousands of construction materials, products and systems from manufacturers. These listings also link directly to NBS Chorus, providing a seamless way of 'Adding to Spec' in your projects.
NBS is continually pushing for more sustainability information in all manufacturer listings. The requested information includes aspects such as embodied carbon, country of manufacture and country of material origin, recycled content and end-of-life data. We are also seeing a rise in manufacturers providing Enhanced Product Declarations (EPDs), which can be accessed in the third-party certificates section.
If you are a specifier, you can view NBS Source here. Alternatively, if there are products you would like to see but occasionally cannot find within the platform, please drop us a note via manufacturers@thenbs.com with the details, and our team will reach out to the manufacturer on your behalf.
CIS is a comprehensive online collection of industry-relevant publications from around 500 publishers. NBS users with a CIS subscription can use embedded links across specifications platforms to access research and reference documents. The content is fully searchable, intelligently classified and continuously updated, and a generous amount of sustainability content can be searched and referenced.