The new guide is intended to help industry professionals meet their new obligations under the updated Building Safety Act
The new guide to specification holds safety, durability, and fire integrity and safety at its core, according to NBS.
The guide is intended to be a framework for standardising and improving specification writing.
The guide to specification discusses common sticking points for specifiers
The guide is designed for architects, engineers, design managers, contractors, professional clients, and students, and gives methodology for writing specifications intended to reduce project delays, cost overruns, and compliance risks.
The guide has been developed by NBS and NBS Schumann professionals and industry focus groups that allowed experts to highlight the largest inconsistencies in writing specifications, and the need for clearer classification and change in management processes.
This will allow industry professionals to write the best specifications they can, whether they are a seasoned professional or just starting their careers.
“Inconsistency along with lack of cross discipline coordination in specification writing is a growing problem.”
Dr Stephen Hamil, innovation director at NBS, said: “This is a framework for writing specifications that applies across the industry. Whether you draft specifications in software, Word or on the back of a napkin, the principles remain the same. The goal is to create a standardised approach, ensuring a consistent methodology across practices and clients.”
“As a project progresses, it’s not just about publishing a spec and simply incrementing the revision number. It’s about highlighting precisely what clauses have changed and what those changes are. In addition, bringing as many of the specification decisions forward and ensuring full compliance is the safest route in the current regulatory climate.”
Ruth King, specifications lead at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, said: “Transparency in documentation is no longer optional; it’s expected. Specifications must be clear, verifiable, and aligned with classification systems to ensure efficiency and consistency across teams.”
“Getting manufacturers involved early is crucial. Their input ensures specifications are accurate and meet project needs from the outset.”
Adrian Shilliday, technical director at Galliford Try, said: “Construction projects are becoming increasingly contractor-led, and inconsistency along with lack of cross discipline coordination in specification writing is a growing problem. Poorly written specs can lead to cost overruns, delays, non-compliance with regulations and safety risks. This guide provides a clear framework to prevent those issues.”
The guide is software agnostic, allowing use with most systems and making it adaptable to most processes, and can be found for download here.
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