About Designing Buildings
Put all construction industry knowledge in one place and make it available to everyone for free
Construction in the UK employs 2.4 million people in 340,000 organisations, each one of which is creating and accessing a vast amount of expert knowledge. Everything from how to prepare a brief for a new project, right through to getting tax breaks for water efficient taps. But that knowledge is inaccessible, fragmented and dispersed. If we integrate it into a single resource that is easily accessible by everyone, the construction industry will be more efficient, more collaborative, more innovative and it will make fewer mistakes.
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Designing Buildings is the most comprehensive construction industry knowledge base in the world. It gives free access to 18,000 articles about the planning, design, construction and operation of built assets. Users can find articles about things they don't know, and write articles about things they do.
The knowledge it holds is curated, structured and linked together to create a single, growing, evolving resource. Thousands of construction terms and industry acronyms have been defined and hundreds of thousands of internal links help users get to the knowledge they need as quickly as possible.
Designing Buildings is supported by:
- The Chartered Institute of Building
- The Institute of Historic Building Conservation
- The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists
- ECA
It is owned by Designing Buildings Limited, a company founded by project manager David Trench CBE FCIOB , designer and project manager Dr Gregor Harvie, construction law solicitor Richard Winward LLB FCIArb FCInst CES and chartered banker and finance director Martin Cantor.
It's refers mainly to processes and practices adopted in England and Wales, although much of the content is also applicable in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and users in many other countries will find it helpful.
- To get started see our Quick Start Guide.
- For information about using the site see our Help page.
- For guidance about writing style see our quick style guide.
- For terms of use see our terms and conditions.
- You can contact us by emailing [email protected].
Featured articles
Check out some of the best features and news from Designing Buildings as well as key stories from around the web.
A quick introduction to its uses and risks.
Construction Management, 17 June
Government rolls out digital planning tool to all local authorities.
Your views needed - a strategy for the professions, trades and occupations.
Confronting competency, codes, capacity and costs.
The hidden risk in modern construction supply chains.
Construction Management, 10 June
24 months to 14: CITB launches accelerated apprenticeships.
Bridging the gap between clients and contractors
Concerns remain around contractor quality, capability, and delivery.
Construction Management, 10 June.
Heat pumps beat boilers in new home tests.
Building Safety Act implementation in Wales
CIAT to host industry panel on 26 June.
New and updated CLC building safety guidance.
New UK National Buildings Database.

















