Friday 21 August 2009

Manufacturer Information within NBS

The NBS Plus manufacturer information within NBS Building has undergone a major transformation in the last 18 months. There are now around 20,000 product specifications from over 500 manufacturers available to add into your specifications with just one click.

Not only has the quantity of products now available increased, the depth of information to help you select a suitable product has increased too, and now includes access to high quality images of products and clear indications of third party approval stamps such as Kitemarks and Agrément Certificates.

To access NBS Plus manufacturer and product information as part of your NBS Building subscription, simply click on the Manufacturers' panel below the NBS Guidance window when using the software.

The manufacturers' data is automatically filtered, to only display manufacturers who provide products relevant to what you are specifying at the time. For example, if you are specifying natural stone slabs, then only manufacturers of natural stone slab products will be displayed for you to select.




To specify a product from a selected manufacturer, browse to it and then simply click the "add" button. The product is then automatically added to your project as a concise specification clause. The drop-down options are then tailored to the product selected, allowing you to complete that specification clause swiftly and accurately.

Increasing access to construction product information when using the software

A more recent improvement to the NBS Plus information includes linking to electronic product catalogues hosted in ribaproductselector.com.

Where available, electronic catalogues are displayed against their associated products, so that you can easily access additional product information direct from the manufacturer:





When you click on a catalogue, the software will take you to the manufacturer's product information, which can be downloaded as a PDF for reference:



This latest development to the software makes it easier to download relevant product catalogues, find out more about a specific product, and record manufacturers' literature against your project specification.

A manufacturer's third party approval certificates are also displayed within their ribaproductselector.com information, as are links to their online CPD material, providing a full view of all a manufacturer's services.