John McComb, Technical Director at Reynaers Aluminium UK, examines how manufacturers are providing crucial help to principal designers to ensure the highest levels of safety. Principal Designers have always been central to risk management during a project’s pre-construction phase. However, the introduction of the BSA has catapulted the role to greater prominence, broadening its responsibility with an increased focus on compliance, structural integrity, and fire safety. This h

Deceuninck is strengthening its commercial focus as building reforms reshape specification routes across the built environment. Specify & Build finds out more. With building safety reform and changing regulations reshaping specification routes, Deceuninck is strengthening its commercial focus to meet rising market expectations. By combining aluminium, PVC and composite systems under one roof, the business is helping specifiers to make better-informed decisions earlier, ensuri

Howells Patent Glazing has replaced roof glazing for the Barkers Arcade in Northallerton. Specify & Build reports. H owells Patent Glazing has returned to Northallerton institution, Barkers, to replace three areas of roof glazing above the iconic arcade at the High Street department store and in the atrium of Barkers Home store. This follows the installation of replacement rooflights in all four atriums in the centre of the store in 2022. The Arcade is located on Northallerto

Plans to ensure that all rented properties will have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2030 are underway. Presently, just over 2.5 million rented properties maintain a rating in between D and G. This could offer a major business boost to the UK HVAC industry, with an unprecedented commercial opportunity that could stimulate both regional and national economies. An EPC evaluates and determines the energy efficiency of a property. The key areas withi

Rinnai Director Chris Goggin looks at some of the unreported details of the politics of NetZero, more specifically the ideological challenges to carbon neutrality and climate change policies coming from all areas of the global political spectrum. Mr Goggin reports on how China, Europe, UK and the US are fielding their climate change policies. Additionally, there are further observations on what pledges and agreements could be sacrificed for an approach that relies on the cont

Sue Corrick of Allegion UK reviews the expanding role of digital information in building safety and how its use is transforming fire door hardware from passive fire protection to an active data source. Data drives informed decisions, and in the built environment, the role of information is growing. Where fire safety is paramount to building design, the adoption of digital practice - combined with modern legislation -  proceeds to have a greater impact on standards and is resh

New fastener lengths in EJOT’s DDS-Z range, exclusively available in the UK, are enabling much deeper levels of soffit insulation to be installed easily and efficiently thanks to the screw’s ability to anchor effectively into concrete with an embedment of just 25mm. Existing DDS-Z fasteners in lengths including 275mm, 300mm, 325mm and 350mm are already proving popular with installers tasked with meeting higher thermal performance and fire resistance objectives in projects suc

Fire protection solutions manufacturer, Advanced, has introduced SmokeGo, a smoke control panel designed to offer complete and active smoke management through the fire system, without the complexity. Developed to give specifiers, installers, and end-users a smarter, more intuitive way to achieve smoke control in a range of buildings, it is designed to make smoke control simpler, faster and fully compliant. From dedicated to non-dedicated smoke control systems, SmokeGo makes c

EGGER LONDON has brought together three family owned companies – EGGER, CLEAF and BLUM – at its London showroom. EGGER LONDON offers an eclectic experience for designers, specifiers and architects. Its light, bright and flowing interior comprises a design space for guests to work and collaborate on projects, digital space to access supporting tools and brand information, private space for meetings and workshops, and a welcoming hospitality space for relaxed networking. Every

W.Howard’s new subsidiary, Pillo, is transforming how the industry thinks about waste MDF by recovering and reusing wood fibres to create a natural, UK-manufactured wood-fibre insulation. For decades, MDF has been one of the few timber-based materials that could not be recycled. Instead it often went to landfill or incineration, creating a gap in the timber sector’s otherwise strong recycling story. That is about to change with the arrival of W.Howard Pillo – a natural, UK ma

Sika has partnered with housebuilder Cala Homes to deliver the external render for 89 new homes in Stirlingshire, Scotland. SikaWall-580 Monorex GM UK, a one-coat through coloured render, has been specified to meet planning, aesthetic and functional requirements. Weather resistant and breathable, the render provides a durable solution for the new development, which is in an area severely exposed to wind-driven rain. Manufactured in the UK and certified by the British Board of

RAUVIPEX, REHAU UK’s pre-insulated district heating pipework solution, has won the ‘Commercial HVAC Product of the Year – Components and Peripherals’ category at the 2025 Heating & Ventilating News Awards. RAUVIPEX provides a combination of low thermal conductivity and high bending flexibility, manufactured with REHAU’s proven PE-Xa carrier pipe, combined with PU foam insulation and an SN8 rated outer jacket. This robust construction ensures long-term durability and addresses

FrameSafe FR fire-rated external wall breather membrane has been installed to help improve safety standards as part of cladding remediation works in Greater Manchester. Specify & Build reports. FrameSafe FR, Glidevale Protect’s Class A2, fire-rated external wall breather membrane, has been installed to help improve safety standards as part of the cladding remediation works being undertaken at a major medium-rise residential development in Greater Manchester.  The Life Buildin

Housebuilders can give bats a brand new home inside the ridge roost and help support the urban environment, Manthorpe explains. Finding suitable roosting spots in urban areas has become increasingly difficult for bats in recent years due to improved building practices and materials that reduce defects. However, the Manthorpe Bat Ridge Roost provides a solution by offering these important pollinators a new home among the rooftops. This product is the result of a partnership be

Bruce Towers & Sons, based in the heartlands of East Anglia, recently completed a major refit of Rinnai hot water heating units in four separate plant rooms across two big schools over a half term.   Rinnai’s N Series hot water heating units were installed in cascade arrangements so that the schools and their thousands of staff and pupils had unlimited volumes of on demand temperature controlled hot water.   Says Bruce Towers, “We were able to install all the Rinnai units in