Buildwise

Buildwise is Belgium's innovation and research centre for construction. Formerly known in English as the Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI), it was founded in 1959 as a private research institute at the initiative of the National Federation of Belgian Building Contractors, under the so-called "De Groote" decree-law of 1947 that provided for collective research centres serving whole industries.

Role

Buildwise has three statutory tasks:

• scientific and technical research for the benefit of its members;
• technical information, guidance and advice to members;
• contract research and services for industry and public authorities.

Its statutory members are Belgium's construction companies, more than 120,000 firms, most of them small and medium-sized businesses. It employs more than 300 staff.

Relevance to roofing

Belgium has no single national building code; building rules are set largely by the regions, and European EN standards govern products. Buildwise's statutory role of providing technical information and advice to construction companies therefore spans all building trades, roofing included. Buildwise publishes a magazine, annual reports and other publications, most of them also available in English.

Comparable bodies

Neighbouring countries have their own technical reference bodies for building trades. In France, the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) holds the secretariat for the NF DTU technical rules and issues technical assessments for new products, while in Germany the roofers' federation ZVDH publishes the technical rules of the roofing trade. Buildwise differs from both in being a collective research centre whose statutory members are the contractors themselves.

Sources and gaps

Founding details of its roofing committees and the titles of its current roofing guidance documents: published information is limited.