An extraordinary insight into almost a century of UK construction industry history is being made available through a new online archive of research and guidance publications.

Built environment experts at BRE, which celebrates its 90th anniversary next year, have been at the forefront of UK construction developments throughout this period, and the thousands of publications they produced remain in the care of BRE's owner, the BRE Trust.

Earlier this year the Trust set up a project to put a large part of this printed archive online for public use.

The first tranche of publications in the archive includes nearly a thousand documents comprising:

-Current Papers - 720 research project summaries published from 1968-1983

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-Digests - 130 reviews of then current building technologies published from 1948-1966

-Overseas Building Notes - 125 guidance notes on low-technology building methods suited to conditions in many developing countries, published from 1961-1994.

A further set of more than a thousand documents, including detailed research reports, will be added to the site over the next six months.

"While the archive is not intended to provide guidance on current built environment projects," says BRE Group Chief Executive, Martin Wyatt, "it does present a fascinating historical record and background to today's industry."

Much of the information in the documents has been superseded by more recent regulations and standards, but it often provides intriguing details about the research underpinning a number of current practices. And the information on contemporary building standards and techniques can, for example, provide valuable insights to those now renovating older buildings.

There will be a small charge for copies of the documents, and the funds generated from this will be used to support initiatives undertaken via the BRE Trust. The Trust is a charitable organisation that works to advance built environment knowledge and communication for public benefit, by supporting research, innovation and education.

The archive comprises a separate section of BREBookshop.com and can be accessed from the Bookshop's home page.

(GK)