Iconic architects tool retires after 40 years service

After 40 years, NBS, the leading provider of connected construction information, will be saying goodbye to RIBA Product Selector, its iconic product directory. All its content is now available in NBS Source, a brand new cloud-based platform for construction product information.

Over its four-decade lifespan, RIBA Product Selector evolved from a physical printed directory of thousands of construction products, found on every architect’s shelf, to an online database.

The printed version remained in high demand until recently, and even ten years ago over 20,000 copies were distributed. However, as specification increasingly became digital, specifiers turned to computer-based tools. Now with the rise of cloud-based specification platforms such as NBS Chorus, which links seamlessly to NBS Source, specification writing is faster and more accurate.

Any manufacturers listed in RIBA Product Selector will now have their content held in NBS Source, with the option to improve their listings with enhanced data. NBS Source presents manufacturer data in a structured format providing consistent properties and values, performance criteria and certification. These features have been incredibly popular with specifiers.

NBS Source also enables specifiers to find, select and specify the product information they need, all in one place, saving them hours of time, and ensuring both specifiers and manufacturers are well placed to meet rigorous existing and upcoming standards.

Richard Waterhouse, Chief Strategy Officer, at NBS says “We’ve always focused on making specification writing an easier, more accurate process. When RIBA Product Selector launched it was a game-changer and an essential reference book for architects. Construction product manufacturers soon found that if they weren’t listed they missed out.”

He adds, “With teams now working remotely, practices rely more and more on cloud-based tools, and while on one level it’s sad to say goodbye to RIBA Product Selector, there’s now an improved alternative with NBS Source. From print to floppy discs to desktop software and now cloud-based platforms, we’ve always been at the forefront of specification guidance.”

Hannah Ward from Franke Waster Systems, a long-standing customer of NBS who has moved from RIBA Product Selector to NBS Source says, “Specifiers are busy people and if you’re not front of mind when they’re writing the specification, it’s easy to miss out. RIBA Product Selector has been an essential component of our communications with the architectural and design community, and I know this has been the case for many other brands too. However, approaches change over time with broader and more integrated product information becoming more important, that’s why we’ve moved over to NBS Source.”

NBS Source

NBS Source is available free-of-charge to professional specifiers to use, and combines RIBA Products Selector, NBS Plus, and the NBS National BIM Library. It delivers the ultimate platform of digital product data, in one place. NBS Source provides additional enhanced product data, in a structured format that integrates seamlessly into project workflows.