NBS and CPI set to improve the quality and standard of product information within the construction industry.

NBS and CPI set to improve the quality and standard of product information within the construction industry.

Oct 21, 2024 |NBS |2 Minute Read

NBS and CPI set to improve the quality and standard of product information within the construction industry.

Today, NBS, a leading specification and construction product platform for the construction industry, announces its partnership with CPI Ltd, the independently governed, not-for-profit organisation responsible for the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI).

The collaboration with CPI aims to raise standards in product information and marketing across the construction industry and drive positive culture change. Ultimately, it supports the Code in its mission to move the industry to a place where product information is clear, accurate, accessible, up-to-date and unambiguous.

The partnership between NBS and CPI will help to bring clearer, unambiguous product information and marketing to the fingertips of architects and designers working on construction projects.

It will see NBS integrate new functionality into its platform to help specifiers easily identify and select products and systems that have been assessed to conform with the CCPI and are registered with CCPI.  

NBS Source users can now filter listings to show only products and systems with CCPI assessment, enabling them to select from options which are conforming with the CCPI.

Commenting on the partnership, Dr Stephen Hamil, Innovation Director, NBS, said “At NBS our mission is to use the power of connected data to add value and enable a safe, efficient, high-quality construction sector. We’re always looking to improve the way information is delivered to end-users, helping to ensure that specifiers can be confident in the integrity of crucial product data.

“Partnering with CPI, we’re allowing specifiers to have better access to clear, reliable, and assessed product information, so they can be more confident in design decisions.”

Amanda Long, Chief Executive of CPI, said “At CPI, we firmly believe that improving standards across the construction industry requires a collaborative effort. Partnering with NBS is the first of many such collaborations we would like to develop to engage the industry in every corner.  Working with NBS will help us to reach out and provide specifiers with greater confidence in the product information and marketing that they need to make informed choices, reducing risk throughout the supply chain. By working together, we can drive the culture change urgently required across the sector in relation to prioritising product information and marketing that conforms with the CCPI.”

Additionally, NBS has built a custom area within the NBS Source platform, dedicated exclusively to showcasing systems, and products that are registered with the CCPI and the that have achieved CCPI assessment.

The CPI assessment process includes critical mechanisms, such as Leadership and Culture assessment and ongoing CPI Registration obligations for the company responsible for the product information. These do not exist elsewhere in the construction sector. The CCPI and its third-party assessment process provide valuable review and ongoing engagement to help users and specifiers have more confidence that they are working with product information and marketing that is conforming with the CCPI and that the manufacturers responsible are committed to continually updating and improving their product information and marketing. 

Nigel Blacklock, Technical Director at manufacturer Bauder, who is registered with the CCPI and has been awarded the CCPI Assessed Mark for its flat roof waterproofing systems, said “Increasingly we’ve seen specifiers request third-party assessment of the product information and marketing associated with our products. The CCPI mark is a mark of trust and, crucially, having a digitally-supplied format via NBS Source makes it even easier for specifiers to spot our assessed systems and specify with greater confidence.”

Our latest news

Visqueen supports one of the first Gateway 2 approvals under the Building Safety Act

The Dyecoats development in Leeds marks a major milestone for the UK housing sector. The £100 million flagship Latimer Homes scheme being delivered by GRAHAM is one of the first high-rise new-build projects in the country to achieve Building Safety Act Gateway 2 approval, a crucial pre-construction sign-off confirming that the design meets all safety and regulatory requirements before work begins on site.

Building Safety ActSponsored

Five questions to ask when specifying insulated panels

Selecting an insulated panel system for an industrial building should start with the building and application requirements.

Design and SpecificationSponsored

NBS and BDP join forces to improve generic carbon data in construction

Today, NBS (part of Hubexo), the platform for connected construction information, announces a long-term strategic partnership with BDP, a major global multidisciplinary practice of architects, designers, engineers and urbanists. The partnership recognises BDP's integral role in the development of NBS LCA, a new life-cycle carbon assessment platform providing professionals with high-quality, reliable and easy-to-use carbon data to ensure accurate tracking as construction projects evolve. BDP's primary contribution to NBS LCA has been the development of more than 1,300 pre-calculated generic assemblies, covering the most commonly used building fabric elements alongside key concrete and steel structural elements. These assemblies provide whole-element carbon data, giving designers consistent, UK-relevant carbon benchmarks from the earliest stages of project design. Users can easily and instantly apply carbon rates to a range of pre-configured common building elements, including walls, floors, and roofs. Developed by BDP and NBS, the assemblies remove the need for designers to manually build up material layers or calculate individual components at the concept stage. This saves significant time and effort, enabling proportionate and responsible carbon evaluation early in the design process, when decisions have the greatest impact on a project's overall carbon footprint. BDP also participated in collaborative workshops that directly informed the development of NBS LCA, helping to shape a tool that is practical, accessible and aligned with real-world UK construction workflows. Dr Lee Jones, Head of Sustainability at Hubexo, said: “BDP's contribution to NBS LCA has been invaluable. Their depth of project experience and technical knowledge has directly shaped the generic assemblies at the heart of the platform. These assemblies give designers a reliable, UK-relevant starting point for carbon assessment, without the burden of building everything from scratch. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that moves the industry forward, and we're proud to be working with BDP on a long-term basis.” Julia Yao, Associate, Sustainability Consultant at BDP, said: “Carbon assessment needs to be embedded in design from day one, not bolted on at the end. Working with NBS to develop its LCA product has been a genuine opportunity to put that principle into practice. The generic assemblies we developed draw on real project data and are designed to give designers meaningful, actionable carbon information at the concept stage. We're delighted to see them at the core of a platform that will be used across the industry.” With the UK Government outlining its commitment to responsible carbon reporting through its Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, professionals need reliable, easy-to-use tools to assess and report embodied carbon. NBS LCA addresses this need by integrating carbon calculations with live design work, drawing on structured data from Circular Ecology's ICE Database and more than 12,500 verified, specification-ready construction products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) from NBS Source and ECO Portal. Over the coming months, NBS and BDP will continue to develop their partnership, with a shared commitment to improving the quality and accessibility of carbon data for construction professionals across the UK. NBS LCA is available now, with flexible subscriptions designed for all professionals. For more information, visit the website here.

Product update