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National Structural Concrete Specification for building construction

The NSCS is now available in two editions.

Edition 4 which has been fully revised to meet the requirement of BS EN 13670 Execution of concrete structures use of which is required for execution of BS EN 1992 and other Eurocode designs.

Edition 3 which was published in 2004 and is based on BS 8110 designs. Construct is continuing to make this edition available, even though BS 8110 is no longer maintained by BSI, as it is felt that it will be some time before the use of Eurocodes is exclusively adopted.

Both editions aim to address the wide and inconsistent approach of UK consulting engineers to concrete frame specification as well as the ambiguity in specification and interpretation of concrete finishes. The new 4th Edition while adopting the language and sequence of the execution standard maintains the definitive, simple, straightforward specification of earlier editions removing unnecessary conditions and facilitating efficient construction.

Edition 4
The NSCS contains three documents:

 

NSCS Standard Specification
Provides standard clauses generally required by BS EN 13670 execution specification and UK Engineers. This ensures that all parties involved ~ clients, designers and frame contractors ~ fully understand the normal requirements of efficient concrete construction.

NSCS Project Specification
Provides a clear and separate statement of the specific requirements for individual projects. This specification highlights ‘by exception’ any required amendments to the standard requirements. The specification provides indication where information should be provided using default values wherever possible. The interactive CD provides a template to facilitate production of an individual project specification.

NSCS Guidance.
The Guidance provides a companion to the specifications outlining the philosophy of the specification and background to individual clauses. Guidance to specification clauses is indexed in the main specification index. A separate full bibliography is provided for NSCS guidance.

Edition 3
The specification is divided in two parts

 

Part one
Identifies clauses for standard concrete construction. This ensures that all parties involved - clients, designers and frame contractors - fully understand the normal requirements of efficient concrete construction.

Part two
Provides a clear and separate statement of the specific requirements for individual projects. This highlights 'by exception' the required amendments to the standard requirements as outlined in Part 1.

Guidance notes
Guidance notes form a companion to parts one & two and outlines the philosophy of the specification and background to individual clauses.

All members of the project team can benefit from the NSCS:

  • Designers will no longer have to develop their own specifications from scratch.
  • Specialist concrete frame contractors will be able to tender more efficiently and have more freedom to innovate.
  • Clients will benefit from increased savings and cost benefits. Conservative estimates suggest this could be 4% of the client value of £1.3 billion p.a.

Copies of the National Structural Concrete Specification Edition 3 and Edition 4 together with the appropriate CD can be obtained from CONSTRUCT using the Order form. PDF files of the printed version and the files from the CDs may also be freely down loaded from the Publications page.

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